Sweetgreen's Q1 2025: Unpacking Contradictions on Sales, Infinite Kitchens, and Tariff Pressures

Impact of external factors on sales performance, Infinite Kitchen performance and expansion, tariff impact on build-out costs, impact of wildfires on Los Angeles performance, and impact of tariffs on costs and strategy are the key contradictions discussed in Sweetgreen's latest 2025Q1 earnings call.



Sales and Earnings Performance:
- Sweetgreen reported sales of $166.3 million for Q1 2025, with a same store sales decline of 3.1%.
- Despite significant external headwinds like the holiday timing shift and wildfires, sales were near the upper end of their guidance range.
- The decline in same-store sales was impacted by external factors, including a broader consumer slowdown and specific market challenges in New York, Boston, and Los Angeles.

Operational and Financial Efficiency:
- Sweetgreen delivered a restaurant level profit margin of 17.9% and achieved adjust EBITDA profitability for the first quarter.
- Improvements in food, beverage, and packaging costs by over 100 basis points were driven by distribution savings and favorable contract pricing.
- The company is focused on optimizing operations, broaden