small but profitable korean bbq restaurant chains debut comes after lossmaking cava group shares of gen restaurant group inc fired out of the gate wednesday as the gen korean bbq restaurant chains stock opened more than 50 above its initial public offering price the profitable company raised 432 million as its 36 millionshare offering priced late tuesday at 12 a share the company had previously expected to sell 30 million shares at a price between 10 and 12 a share the stocks first trade wednesday was at 1830 for 81940 shares at 1111 am eastern or 525 above the ipo price at the opening price the company was valued at about 5809 million the stock has pulled back since then and was last up 30 the deal comes just weeks after another restaurant chain cava group inc  went public and rocketed more than 99 in opening trade the two companies are quite different cava is a mediterraneanstyle chain that has yet to make a profit see now moneylosing food chain cava showed ipo success is it finally time for some tech deals but gen had net income of 4134 million in the quarter through march 31 up from 30 million a year ago revenue rose 147 to 439 million the company was created in 2011 by two korean immigrants jae chang and david kim experienced restauranteurs who have since grown the network to 34 companyowned restaurants offering traditional korean and koreanamerican food our restaurants have modern décor lively korean pop music playing in the background and embedded grills in the center of each table says the filing documents our food is served family style and requires guests to share and coordinate their cooking responsibilities which fosters more meaningful interaction than traditional casual dining that is helping the company connect with two important demographics  millennials and gen z  and to harness the current popularity of all things korean which include pop music movies and tv shows see also5 reasons squid game is dominating memes streams and halloween the restaurants are located in california arizona nevada hawaii texas new york and florida but proceeds of the deal will be partially used to open new outlets the company is aiming to open four or five restaurants in 2023 and to open 10 to 12 new restaurants annually new and existing markets including virginia oregon georgia utah colorado and new jersey as well as in the district of columbia over time the company believes theres a potential for more than 250 restaurants in the us our restaurants have historically generated average payback periods of approximately 14 years with average net buildout costs of approximately 18 million for new units opened during 2018 and 2019 says the filing gen believes one strength is its pricing model which offers unlimited quantities of food at a fixed price that ranges from 1795 to 2099 for lunch and 2595 to 2996 for dinner apart from at the miracle mile in las vegas where dinner is priced at 3595 and 3395 for dinner and 3695 for late dinner at the manhattan location still the stock comes with risks including the current economic backdrop with many expecting the economy to tip into recession and dampen consumer spending the company is exposed to its own suppliers including a few that provide specialized equipment such as embedded grills in its tables like all restaurant operators it faces stiff competition from other fastcasual restaurants along with takeout offers from grocery stores and mealkit companies among others it also competes for staff with such outlets and for quality locations gen is an emerging growth company which means it does not face the same disclosure requirements as bigger companies the ipo was underwritten by roth capital partners craighallum capital group and the benchmark co the stocks strong debut comes as the renaissance ipo exchangetraded fund ipo has gained 32 in the year to date and the sp 500 has gained 14 read cava group cfo is confident restaurant chain will be profitable  but she wont say when this content was created by marketwatch which is operated by dow jones  co marketwatch is published independently from dow jones newswires and the wall street journal