Citigroup upgrades McDonald's and Sweetgreen, downgrades Yum Brands

SWEETGREEN

10/01/2025 14:23

** Brokerage Citigroup upgrades rating on McDonald's  MCD.N 
and salad chain Sweetgreen  SG.N  to "buy" from "neutral"
    ** MCD's strategy of providing menu with flexible starting
price and stronger advertising capabilities compared to peers to
benefit co in 2025 - brokerage
    ** SG's consistency of output, speed and accuracy of pick-up
items to eventually outweigh on-demand customization options
offered at many fast casual competitors and concerns about
automation driving job losses - brokerage
    ** Citigroup downgrades KFC-owner Yum Brands  YUM.N  to
"neutral" from "buy", cuts PT to $141 from $153
    ** Expects difficult international operating environment to
persist in 2025 due to lingering risks of global unit closures
and ongoing macro challenges in China 
    ** Slowing wage growth in U.S. may also hit YUM's customer
visits - brokerage
    ** Shares of MCD up marginally and SG up ~2% in premarket
trading, YUM dips about 1%
    ** SG rose nearly 184% and YUM ~3% last year, while MCD fell
about 2%

 (Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru)
 ((AnujaBharat.Mistry@thomsonreuters.com;))