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what it is
Sweetgreen sells customizable salads and bowls through 246 company-owned restaurants and its app.
how it gets paid
Last year Sweetgreen made $679M in revenue. Custom salads and bowls was the main engine at $278M, or 41% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 0.4% last year. $524 million matters because one quarter equaling roughly 77% of annual revenue means the data needs reconciliation before you trust the trend.
what just happened
The quarter looked huge on paper with $524 million of revenue, but the reported figures do not line up cleanly with Sweetgreen’s annual sales base.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
35/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
-$0.79 fy2024 eps est
$677M fy2024 rev est
20.5% operating margin
xvary composite: 34/100 — weak
What they do
Sweetgreen sells customizable salads and bowls through 246 company-owned restaurants and its app.
Sweetgreen wins on habit and convenience. You can order from 11 year-round signature items or build your own from 40-plus ingredients, then pick it up fast through its online and mobile platforms. At 246 restaurants across 22 states and Washington, D.C., it has a real footprint, but the brand only matters if those stores stop losing money.
How they make money
$679M
annual revenue · their business grew +0.4% last year
Custom salads and bowls
$278M
Signature salads and bowls
$231M
Protein plates and sides
$102M
Beverages, desserts, and other
$68M
The products that matter
core menu traffic driver
Salads & bowls
core business · same-store sales -3.5%
This is the main reason customers show up, and the current problem is blunt: same-store sales fell 3.5% vs. prior year in the latest quarter.
core demand
new handheld menu test
Wraps
three-item test · 40g+ protein each
Management is testing three wraps, each with more than 40 grams of protein, because menu expansion is now part of the turnaround plan.
traffic experiment
small non-store revenue stream
Franchise & other
$31M · 4.6% of revenue
This piece generated $31M against $648M from company-owned stores. In plain English: there is no high-margin royalty engine here to hide weak store economics.
small cushion
Key numbers
20.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what: Sweetgreen is still losing about 21 cents on each sales dollar.
$679M
annual revenue
Revenue → total sales → so what: the brand is real, but 0.4% growth says scale alone is not rescuing returns.
$315M
long debt
Long-term debt → money owed later → so what: debt equals about half the market cap, which limits flexibility.
246
restaurants
Restaurant count → physical footprint → so what: Sweetgreen already has national presence, so execution matters more than the story.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $315M (33% of capital)
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for SG right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
missed estimates
The quarter looked huge on paper with $524 million of revenue, but the reported figures do not line up cleanly with Sweetgreen’s annual sales base.
EDGAR data provided here shows latest-quarter revenue of $524 million and EPS of -$0.72. That clashes with ’s 2024 revenue estimate of $677 million and consensus TTM revenue of $680 million, so you should treat the quarter as a proof-check event, not a victory lap.
$524M
revenue
$0.72
eps
20.5%
operating margin
the number that mattered
$524 million matters because one quarter equaling roughly 77% of annual revenue means the data needs reconciliation before you trust the trend.
source: EDGAR filings and consensus data, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is restaurant-level margin compression at sweetgreen's company-owned stores.
high
Deteriorating unit economics
Restaurant-level profit margin fell to 10.4% in q4 2025 from 17.4% a year earlier. A 700-basis-point drop is not normal noise.
If store-level economics stay this weak, growth adds revenue but not much value.
high
Negative same-store sales
Same-store sales declined 3.5% vs. prior year in the latest quarter. Existing stores are supposed to help fund new ones. Right now they're doing the opposite.
This puts pressure on both traffic assumptions and the turnaround story.
med
Leadership turnover during a reset
Co-founder Nathaniel Ru retired in december 2025 and the chief development officer left in january 2026. That is a lot of change for a business already reworking menu, traffic, and profitability.
Turnaround execution gets harder when the org chart is moving too.
med
Balance sheet is fine, not bulletproof
Sweetgreen carries $315M in long-term debt, equal to 33% of capital, while producing a -19.73% net margin.
Losses plus debt do not create a lot of room for a long turnaround.
These risks sit inside a $677M business with a -19.73% profit margin and a -33.42% return on equity. If store economics do not recover, the low valuation will keep looking earned.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
q1 2026 earnings report
Expected around april 30, 2026. You need to see whether the latest quarter was a stumble or the start of a lower-margin trend.
metric
same-store sales
The current number is -3.5%. Until this gets back above zero, the turnaround case stays on probation.
trend
restaurant-level margin recovery
10.4% versus 17.4% is the wrong direction. You want to see whether that gap starts closing next.
risk
leadership and menu execution
Wrap tests and executive turnover are happening at the same time. If the menu broadens but operations slip, you will see it in traffic and margins fast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
35 / 100
Low predictability means the numbers can swing around. In human-speak, analysts do not trust a smooth earnings path here.
risk rank
4
Risk rank: 4. That's safer than roughly 20% of stocks, which is another way of saying this is still a risky name.
price stability
5 / 100
Price stability: 5 / 100. This stock does not trade like a safe compounder. It trades like a turnaround people keep re-underwriting.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for SG is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$6
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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