Invest in Sweetgreen stock now that it is a publicly traded company. Robinhood provided customers access to the Sweetgreen IPO. Up to 1% of shares (130,000) were set aside for Robinhood customers.
The company sold 13 million shares at $28 valuing Sweetgreen at about $3 billion. Sweetgreen trades on the NYSE under the stock symbol “SG”.
Sweetgreen IPO opens at $52 per share.
Sweetgreen released its S-1 filing to the public on October 25th, 2021 and amended on 11/09. Read the S-1 here (PDF).
Sweetgreen Stock IPO News
03/07/2022: Sweetgreen stock soars after posting sales growth in first report since IPO
12/31/2021: Sweetgreen stock poised to go higher after its mixed IPO in late 2021
12/10/2021: Cramer says wait to buy Sweetgreen, ‘you can afford to take your time’
11/18/2021: Sweetgreen opens for trading at $52
11/17/2021: Sweetgreen upsizes IPO to 13 million shares, prices at $28
11/09/2021: Sweetgreen sets IPO terms.
10/25/2021: Sweetgreen Files for IPO (see S-1 below)
08/25/2021: Sweetgreen bets on automation by acquiring Spyce and its robotic kitchen tech
07/02/2021: Seeing the Future of Work At Sweetgreen, in a Desk Salad
06/21/2021: Sweetgreen confidentially files for IPO
05/11/2021: Salad Chain Sweetgreen Is Planning a U.S. IPO This Year
01/04/2020: In a Burger World, Can Sweetgreen Scale Up?
11/20/2019: Sweetgreen CEO on Delivery Rollout and Going Public
04/17/2019: Inside the Unlikely Journey of Cult Salad Brand Sweetgreen
11/15/2018: How Sweetgreen Got to $1 Billion
What is Sweetgreen?
Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain that provides customers with a diverse menu of freshly-made salads.
Three undergrad students started the restaurant in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. shortly after graduating from the nearby university.
The restaurant provides inexpensive meals made from sustainably sourced seasonal ingredients. It brands itself as a conscious corporation, aiming for a win-win-win with the company, customer, and community.
The company mission:
Our mission is to inspire healthier communities by connecting people to real food.
Though Sweetgreen is a restaurant company first, it’s known for leveraging technology and data to strengthen customer relationships and streamline supply chains.
The company is now headquartered in southern California and operates restaurants in San Francisco, LA, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Chicago, DC, and New York.
Is Sweetgreen Stock Publicly Traded?
YES!
Sweetgreen began trading on Thursday, November 18th.
The company sold 13 million shares at $28, raising $364 million and valuing Sweetgreen at about $3 billion.
Early shareholders include founders, early investors (venture capital firms), and employees.
You can find a current list of Sweetgreen investors at Crunchbase.
Sweetgreen’s publicly viewable S-1 filing was released on October 25th and amended on November 9th..
Sweetgreen raised at least $478 million since 2007. The most recent raise was $156 million in September 2019, valuing the company at more than $1.78 billion
Prominent venture capital investors include Revolution (Steve Case of AOL), Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton, and D1 Capital Partners.
When is the Sweetgreen IPO Date?
The Sweetgreen IPO completed on Thursday, November 18th. The stock priced Wednesday night and began trading at about 1:45 PM EST.
The company worked with Goldman Sachs on the listing.
Bookmark this page for the latest Sweetgreen IPO news.
What is the Sweetgreen Stock Symbol? Sweetgreen Ticker?
The Sweetgreen stock symbol will be “SG”. Sweetgreen stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
What is the Sweetgreen Stock Price?
The Sweetgreen IPO stock price is $28. That’s up from the initial range of $23-$25 indicating strong demand.
The current Sweetgreen price is below.
Where can I find the Sweetgreen S-1 Filing?
Sweetgreen released its S-1 filing to the public on October 25th, 2021.
The filing is the first major step toward completing the IPO.
Read the S-1 on the SEC website here or below.
Amended version 11/09/2021.
Amended version 11/16/2021.
Will Sweetgreen Stock be a Motley Fool Stock Advisor Recommendation?
We won’t know until after the IPO if Sweetgreen will be a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. However, Sweetgreen fits the mold of high-growth, disruptive business models that the Fool typically recommends.
Though the restaurant industry is a tough business, Sweetgreen is reported to have operating margins near Chipotle (CMG), a long-time fool recommendation.
Sweetgreen will undoubtedly be on their radar once public.
When the Motley Fool recommends a company, there is usually an immediate spike in the price. Fool newsletter subscribers are notoriously long-term-minded and rarely sell, meaning the stock price will continue to rise.
Sweetgreen may also receive a recommendation by the Motley Fool Rule Breakers (Rule Breakers review) newsletter or other premium services.
Both services have handily beaten the broader market since the early 2000s.
Read this Motley Fool Stock Advisor review to learn about the stock selection methodology and about how you can participate in excellent returns.
Stock Advisor is currently half-off at just $99 for an annual subscription.
Can you Invest in Sweetgreen Stock? Yes!
Yes, now that the IPO is complete you can buy Sweetgreen stock.
Robinhood provided IPO access to the Sweetgreen IPO. Open an account to participate in future IPOs.
Learn more about Robinhood IPO Access.
Click here to subscribe to Access IPOs and download the free 15-page eBook, How to Invest in IPOs – A Fundamental Guide for Ordinary Investors, which provides more detail on this dynamic.
Joining a broker that offers access to IPOs does not guarantee a share allocation, especially in high-demand IPOs. You are probably better off waiting for the company to start trading after the IPO.
What are the Best Brokers to Buy Sweetgreen Stock
What is the best online brokerage for buying Sweetgreen stock?
If you want to attempt to participate in future IPOs, TradeStation and Webull are the best low-minimum investment IPO brokers for investors with assets under $100,000.
However for the Sweetgreen IPO, Robinhood provided access to customers.
See the complete list of best brokers for IPO investing here.
Joining a broker that offers access to IPOs does not guarantee a share allocation, especially in high-demand IPOs. You are probably better off waiting for the company to start trading after the IPO.
Long-term buy-and-hold investors may prefer a broker not as geared toward frequent trading.
As an individual investor, you’ll want to open an account with a commission-free online broker. That way, you’ll invest most of your money instead of wasting it on fees.
I’m a big fan of the online brokerage M1 Finance. M1 Finance is a reliable and robust, no-fee online broker for beginner to advanced investors.
As your investing skills and portfolio mature, M1 is one of the best platforms to scale.
Investing in stocks is 100% free on the platform. They also offer an integrated checking account and low borrowing rates. Read my complete M1 Finance review here.
The platform is more intuitive than old-school brokers because it’s built on a modern technology platform. You create portfolio “pies” that contain all the stocks and ETFs you want to own and in what percentages. Add Sweetgreen stock to your portfolio pie once it begins trading.
M1 Finance does not offer IPO access. But it’s my favorite for long-term investing, which is my preferred strategy for disruptive IPO companies.
More Information about the Completed Sweetgreen IPO
Directed Share Program
With the IPO date near, this is no longer an option unless you are already participating through Robinhood.
Sometimes when companies file their S-1 SEC filing (to begin the IPO process), they include a directed share program for executives, affiliates, and other people who helped the company grow.
Since Sweetgreen’s success is due, in part, to its dedicated customer base, it’s possible the company may offer IPO shares to frequent diners.
This has happened before.
Uber offered shares to drivers that completed a certain number of trips.
GoPro offered shares to its email list.
Airbnb offered IPO shares to hosts.
Considering the intimate relationship Sweetgreen maintains with its customers, a directed share program is something to watch.
Looks like the directed share program is being administered by Robinhood an only offered to eligible employees.
Update 10/25/2021: The S-1 filing does mention a directed share program. However, the wording from the S-1 indicates it may not be available to customers:
At our request, the underwriters have reserved up to (blank %) of the shares of Class A common stock offered by this prospectus for sale at the initial public offering price through a directed share program to certain individuals identified by management.
Update 11/09/2021:
In addition, at our request, the underwriters have reserved up to 1% of the shares of Class A common stock offered by this prospectus for sale at the initial public offering price through a separate directed share program to eligible customers of the company. This customer directed share program will be arranged through and administered by a third-party program administrator, Robinhood Financial LLC, as a selling group member via its online brokerage platform.
Update 11/16/2021:
In order for our customers to be eligible to participate in this customer directed share program, such customers must have (i) been subscribed to receive emails from us prior to September 27, 2021, (ii) opened at least one email sent from us since March 1, 2021, and (iii) placed at least three orders with us on any Channel (including at least one order through our Owned Digital Channels) in the period starting on October 28, 2019 and ending on October 27, 2021. Prior to the launch of this offering, we notified eligible customers of the proposed program and the opportunity to pre-register for inclusion in the customer directed share program by opening a brokerage account with Robinhood prior to the launch of the offering. Participation is capped at 25 shares of Class A.
Watch for additional wording changes in amended S-1 filings to see if customers are added to this program.
Attempt to acquire shares in pre-IPO secondary marketplaces
Now that the company has released its S-1 filing to the public, this strategy to acquire shares is no longer valid.
Founders, early employees, and investors often find themselves in a difficult predicament. They own valuable shares of a company that doesn’t trade publicly.
These shareholders might have multi-million dollar net worth’s because of their stock holdings, but the stock is not liquid because it doesn’t trade on an exchange.
A few platforms have evolved to give these individuals a way to liquidate their holding before the IPO.
Some of the more prominent sites include Linqto, EquityZen, and Forge.
Both sites bring liquidity to an otherwise illiquid asset. Accredited investors (those with invested assets > $1,000,000) may join these sites and attempt to buy these companies’ shares when they become available.
The shares are only offered to accredited investors because the company’s financials are not publicly filed with regulators yet, increasing the investors’ risk.
For high-profile companies, demand is high, lowering your chances of acquiring shares. The author considers this a low-likelihood way to acquire shares. However, some readers have written with success stories buying shares this way.
* Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author is long TSLA, ABNB, CMG, BYND.