Sweetgreen Stock: Can a Popular Brand Translate Into Durable Shareholder Returns?​

• Despite an assertive expansion, declining same-store income slowed wide gross growth.

• Automation efforts person not stemmed its rising operating expenses.

• 10 stocks we similar amended than Sweetgreen ›

Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG) has attempted to basal retired successful the fast-casual edifice abstraction by emphasizing steadfast food. Even though different restaurants, specified arsenic Chipotle and Cava Group, stress earthy ingredients, Sweetgreen much explicitly focuses connected wellness and sustainability and has introduced automation successful an effort to chopped costs.

Nonetheless, Sweetgreen banal sells astatine a fraction of its $28 per stock archetypal nationalist offering (IPO) terms from 2021. Knowing that, tin Sweetgreen find a mode to make shareholder returns, oregon is this a banal investors request to avoid?

On the surface, Sweetgreen looks similar an intriguing concept. Amid the propulsion for health, customers person turned to meals similar salads and macromolecule bowls. Moreover, the institution invested successful a robotics-based strategy to marque nutrient mentation much efficient.

Unfortunately, this has not translated into gains for the institution oregon its stock. The institution planned to unfastened 37 caller restaurants successful 2025 and had 266 restaurants arsenic of the extremity of the 3rd 4th of fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 28).

However, contempt that increase, gross successful the archetypal 9 months of fiscal 2025 grew by 2% to $524 million. That included a 7% driblet successful same-store income implicit the aforesaid period.

Additionally, full operating expenses accrued implicit that clip frame, calling into question however good its moves to chopped costs person worked. As a result, the $84 cardinal nett nonaccomplishment successful the archetypal 3 quarters of 2025 increased from $61 cardinal successful the aforesaid year-ago period.

The institution has responded to its struggles by slowing caller edifice maturation to 20 restaurants successful 2026. It besides holds $130 cardinal successful currency and volition summation an further $100 cardinal erstwhile it sells its automation unit, Spyce (it inactive retains licensing to that technology). That buys it clip to orchestrate a turnaround.

Unfortunately, the banal has experienced a near-80% terms diminution implicit the past year. That has fixed the institution a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.2.

That is acold beneath the 4.5 income aggregate of Chipotle oregon Cava's 7.2 P/S ratio. Still, since those competitors gain a profit, 1 has to question whether specified a debased income aggregate is capable to rescue Sweetgreen stock.

Considering the authorities of Sweetgreen, the prospects for reliable shareholder returns are uncertain. Despite efforts to pull customers and prevention money, same-store income are down, and operating expenses proceed to rise.