Sweetgreen vs Shake Shack
Shake Shack reported revenue of $1.4 billion in fiscal 2025, 2.1 times Sweetgreen's $680 million in fiscal 2025. Sweetgreen's revenue grew 0.4% in its latest year, and Shake Shack's grew 15.4%. Sweetgreen had an operating margin of -20.5%, against 4.3% at Shake Shack. Free cash flow was −$119 million at Sweetgreen and $57 million at Shake Shack. Their fiscal years end in different months (December 28 and December 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Sweetgreen | Shake Shack | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 28, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 |
| Revenue | $680M | $1.4B |
| Revenue growth | 0.4% | 15.4% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 25.2% | 22.5% |
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | −20.5% | 4.3% |
| Net margin | −19.7% | 3.2% |
| Free cash flow | −$119M | $57M |
| Free cash flow margin | −17.5% | 3.9% |
| Return on capital | −44.2% | 9.6% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | −0.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0M | $0M |
| Change in diluted share count | 3.2% | −5.3% |
| Last close | $9.88 | $64.89 |
| P/E at the last close | 98.8× | 68.3× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $4.5 million, sold $254,581 | bought $3.2 million, sold $178,081 |
| Piotroski F-score | 2 of 8 | 7 of 8 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
SweetgreenShake Shack
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
SweetgreenShake Shack
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
SweetgreenShake Shack
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Sweetgreen and Shake Shack pages.