Sweetgreen Earns 'Hold' Rating with $11.43 Target, Q3 EPS Miss Spurs Insider Buying
Sixteen brokerages rate Sweetgreen consensus 'Hold' with an average one-year target price of $11.43. In the third quarter it reported EPS of –$0.31 versus –$0.18 estimated on $172.39 million revenue versus $179.29 million forecast and saw insiders, including CEO Jonathan Neman, purchase shares at about $5.5 each.
1. Analyst Consensus and Ratings
Sixteen brokerages cover Sweetgreen, assigning a consensus “Hold” rating. Of those, two recommend “Sell,” eleven recommend “Hold” and three recommend “Buy.” Over the past year, Morgan Stanley and Oppenheimer each set targets consistent with a modest upside, while UBS shifted from “Buy” to “Neutral,” reflecting concerns over same-store sales trends. Zacks Research upgraded its view from “Strong Sell” to “Hold” in mid-November, and Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “Sell (e+)” stance at the end of December. This split underscores diverging views on Sweetgreen’s ability to stabilize traffic and margins in a challenging consumer environment.
2. Insider Purchases and Institutional Movements
Co-founders Nicolas Jammet and CEO Jonathan Neman each executed notable purchases on November 12, acquiring approximately 18,115 and 179,800 shares respectively at average costs near mid-single digits per share. These transactions represent significant increases in their individual holdings and lift insider ownership to nearly 20%. On the institutional side, Glass Jacobson initiated a position in Q2, while Nisa Investment Advisors more than doubled its stake to over 2,100 shares. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken boosted its position by 312%, and Larson Financial Group added roughly 2,350 shares in Q3. Bogart Wealth increased its holding by 1,150%, bringing its total to 5,000 shares. Institutional ownership now accounts for roughly 95.8% of shares outstanding.
3. Recent Financial Performance and Profitability
In its latest quarter, Sweetgreen reported revenue of $172.4 million, missing consensus by approximately $6.9 million and marking a 0.6% year-over-year decline. The company posted a net loss margin of 16.6% and a negative return on equity of 25.7%, with per-share losses widening to $0.31 versus analyst expectations of $0.18 in the red. Management highlighted ongoing investments in digital capabilities and store-level labor optimization as key drivers of both top-line pressure and margin improvement initiatives. Analysts forecast full-year losses narrowing toward $0.74 per share, contingent on a rebound in same-store sales and continued cost discipline.