Sweetgreen, Inc.

Sweetgreen’s stock gained about 5.3% in premarket trading after KeyBanc upgraded its rating from "Sector Weight" to "Overweight" and set a $9.00 price target. KeyBanc justified the upgrade by forecasting a turnaround in sales and substantially raising its same-store-sales estimates: Q4 2026 is now expected to be flat instead of -5%, and 2027 is forecast to grow by +5.5%. Margin and adjusted-EBITDA forecasts for 2026/2027 were also revised upward; the premarket move is seen as company-specific. » More on de.investing.com

Consumer fears from a multistate cyclospora outbreak have depressed traffic and sales at salad chains, with Sweetgreen saying the outbreak reduced same-store sales by about six percentage points in July and prompting a cut to its full-year outlook. Prepackaged salad dollar sales fell 14% year-over-year and chains including Chopt and Chipotle also reported traffic or sales declines; startup Salad and Go filed for Chapter 11 citing the outbreak among its challenges. The FDA has pointed to iceberg lettuce processed at Taylor Farms' central Mexico facility and Taylor Farms has recalled affected products, while some regions report new infections slowing and limited signs of consumer recovery. » More on cnbc.com

Sweetgreen reported a disappointing second quarter with revenue of $192.7m (+3.8% y/y) and a GAAP loss of $0.22 per share, markedly worse than the consensus estimate of about -$0.13. Comparable restaurant sales fell 6.2% (transactions -2%, product mix -4.2%) and restaurant margin declined from 18.9% to 13.1%. Adjusted EBITDA was effectively zero versus $6.4m a year earlier, and management cut the full-year EBITDA forecast to around -$25m. The company cited a Cyclospora outbreak as a headwind; the stock plunged in pre-market trading and approached its 52-week low. » More on de.investing.com