Sweetgreen, Inc.'s (NYSE:SG) 27% Jump Shows Its Popularity With Investors

Sweetgreen, Inc. (NYSE:SG) shareholders are no doubt pleased to see that the share price has bounced 27% in the last month, although it is still struggling to make up recently lost ground. Unfortunately, the gains of the last month did little to right the losses of the last year with the stock still down 34% over that time.

Since its price has surged higher, when almost half of the companies in the United States' Hospitality industry have price-to-sales ratios (or "P/S") below 1.7x, you may consider Sweetgreen as a stock probably not worth researching with its 2.8x P/S ratio. However, the P/S might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early.

Check out our latest analysis for Sweetgreen

What Does Sweetgreen's Recent Performance Look Like?

Recent times haven't been great for Sweetgreen as its revenue has been rising slower than most other companies. One possibility is that the P/S ratio is high because investors think this lacklustre revenue performance will improve markedly. However, if this isn't the case, investors might get caught out paying too much for the stock.

Keen to find out how analysts think Sweetgreen's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

What Are Revenue Growth Metrics Telling Us About The High P/S?

There's an inherent assumption that a company should outperform the industry for P/S ratios like Sweetgreen's to be considered reasonable.

If we review the last year of revenue growth, the company posted a worthy increase of 11%. Pleasingly, revenue has also lifted 80% in aggregate from three years ago, partly thanks to the last 12 months of growth. So we can start by confirming that the company has done a great job of growing revenues over that time.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the analysts covering the company suggest revenue should grow by 17% per year over the next three years. With the industry only predicted to deliver 13% per year, the company is positioned for a stronger revenue result.

With this in mind, it's not hard to understand why Sweetgreen's P/S is high relative to its industry peers. Apparently shareholders aren't keen to offload something that is potentially eyeing a more prosperous future.

The Key Takeaway

Sweetgreen's P/S is on the rise since its shares have risen strongly. Typically, we'd caution against reading too much into price-to-sales ratios when settling on investment decisions, though it can reveal plenty about what other market participants think about the company.

Our look into Sweetgreen shows that its P/S ratio remains high on the merit of its strong future revenues. Right now shareholders are comfortable with the P/S as they are quite confident future revenues aren't under threat. Unless the analysts have really missed the mark, these strong revenue forecasts should keep the share price buoyant.

It is also worth noting that we have found 1 warning sign for Sweetgreen that you need to take into consideration.

If companies with solid past earnings growth is up your alley, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.