Pedestrians move by a Sweetgreen restaurant on Aug. 4, 2026 in San Francisco, California.
Heather Diehl | Getty Photos
Sweetgreen on Thursday lower its full-year outlook and is now projecting steeper same-store gross sales declines as a result of diner fears of consuming recent produce throughout the ongoing cyclospora outbreak.
Shares of the salad chain fell greater than 15% in prolonged buying and selling.
Sweetgreen has not been implicated within the ongoing outbreak that has sickened at the least 10,000 folks and led to 2 deaths, in keeping with information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. The Meals and Drug Administration has pointed to iceberg lettuce equipped by a Taylor Farms facility in central Mexico because the doubtless perpetrator, and the contaminated merchandise have been recalled. The one nationwide restaurant chain linked to the outbreak is Yum Manufacturers’ Taco Bell, which is already seeing gross sales bounce again.
Nonetheless, worry of the waterborne parasite has weighed on many shoppers’ need for recent produce, significantly salad.
“The Firm’s up to date outlook displays lowered shopper demand for recent ready meals as a result of multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis since mid-July,” Sweetgreen mentioned in a press release. “The tempo and timing of restoration stay unsure.”
For 2026, the corporate is now projecting its annual same-store gross sales may shrink 7% to eight%. Its earlier forecast anticipated same-store gross sales declines of simply 2% to 4%.
Sweetgreen can be anticipating to report an adjusted loss earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $27 million to $23 million. It was beforehand forecasting earnings earlier than curiosity, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $1 million to $6 million.
Different restaurant chains not linked to the contaminated iceberg lettuce have additionally seen their gross sales fall. Chipotle Mexican Grill mentioned in late July that cyclospora fears had a few 2 share level affect on gross sales within the second half of July. Salad and Go, an already struggling chain, filed for chapter safety on Tuesday, saying that shopper distrust from the outbreak exacerbated its ongoing enterprise challenges.
Sweetgreen additionally reported its second-quarter outcomes after the bell on Thursday. Its quarterly loss was steeper than anticipated, and its income fell in need of Wall Road’s expectations.
Correction: This story has been revised to mirror that Sweetgreen reported its second-quarter outcomes after the bell on Thursday. A earlier model misstated the day.
