Sweetgreen tumbles after big earnings miss
Sweetgreen tanked in after-hours trading after it reported quarterly earnings results and a 2025 outlook that severely missed Wall Street estimates and appear to show the company backtracking its progress toward profitability.
The fast-casual salad chain reported a loss per share of $0.25, compared to the loss per share of $0.21 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. Sweetgreen also reported a same-store sales increase of 4%, well below the 5.9% analysts were hoping for.
Shares dropped 14% after-hours.
Sales for the quarter were $160.9 million, up from the $153 million it made in the same period last year, but they were a hair below the $162 million analysts were expecting. Sweetgreen reported a net loss of $29 million, worse than the $24.2 million loss analysts were penciling in, marking its worst quarter in two years.
To add insult to injury, the corporate lunchtime favorite gave a grim outlook for 2025. It said it expects to gin up between $760 million and $780 million in sales this year, compared to the $788 million analysts expected. It also predicted a same-store sales change of 1% to 3%, compared to the 4.1% analysts expected.
Sweetgreen has struggled to make its $15-$17 salads profitable in the decade since its financials have been disclosed. Its stock is up more than 100% in the past year, but it’s still down more than 56% since its November 2021 inital public offering.
Fellow fast-casual restaurant Cava also disappointed investors with lower-than-expected same-store sales numbers. Cava, which has now been profitable for seven quarters, beat estimates on sales and revenue.
Sales for the quarter were $160.9 million, up from the $153 million it made in the same period last year, but they were a hair below the $162 million analysts were expecting. Sweetgreen reported a net loss of $29 million, worse than the $24.2 million loss analysts were penciling in, marking its worst quarter in two years.
To add insult to injury, the corporate lunchtime favorite gave a grim outlook for 2025. It said it expects to gin up between $760 million and $780 million in sales this year, compared to the $788 million analysts expected. It also predicted a same-store sales change of 1% to 3%, compared to the 4.1% analysts expected.
Sweetgreen has struggled to make its $15-$17 salads profitable in the decade since its financials have been disclosed. Its stock is up more than 100% in the past year, but it’s still down more than 56% since its November 2021 inital public offering.
Fellow fast-casual restaurant Cava also disappointed investors with lower-than-expected same-store sales numbers. Cava, which has now been profitable for seven quarters, beat estimates on sales and revenue.
