BofA Securities analysts upgraded Sweetgreen (NYSE:SG) to Buy from Neutral and raised their price target to $17.00 from $9.00, based on several factors: increasing foot traffic, the potential for sustained same-store sales growth (SSSG), and long-term plans for operational automation. According to foot traffic data from Placer.ai, which has a 94% correlation with SSSG, visits to Sweetgreen are up 46% year-over-year in Q2, compared to 39% in Q1.
Taking these trends into account, the analysts raised the SSSG forecast for Q2 to 7.0%, surpassing the Street estimate of 4.6%. Concerns about Sweetgreen’s large urban store presence and the return to the office (RTO) have been alleviated by the sustained year-over-year growth in visits, indicating improving mobility and the potential for continued SSSG momentum, which removes a significant obstacle for the stock.