Weekly Pick: SG
A heavily shorted turnaround showing early signs of technical repair
SG scored 13th out of roughly 3,500 stocks in my model and stands out as a compelling turnaround candidate with strong institutional sponsorship, meaningful insider ownership, heavy short interest, and an improving technical structure that appears to be in the early stages of a larger repair.
The stock has already endured years of pain. Shares remain more than 45% below their 52-week high and dramatically below IPO-era highs, but the chart is beginning to suggest that the worst is in the rear view mirror. This one has a bullish confluence of technical repair, explosive float dynamics, emerging profitability and a very robust options chain.
Sweetgreen Inc
Sweetgreen is a fast-casual restaurant chain focused on salads, bowls, protein plates, and healthy eating. The company operates more than 250 locations across the United States and continues to expand while investing heavily in technology and automation initiatives designed to improve restaurant efficiency and long-term margins.
Management’s Infinite Kitchen automation platform remains a key part of the long-term bull thesis. If automation can improve throughput and labor efficiency at scale, margins could inflect meaningfully higher over time.
Fundamentals & Ownership
Market cap: $1.1 billion
Institutional ownership: 80.0%
Insider ownership: 15.4%
Short float: 20.7%
EPS this year expected to grow 84%
TTM EPS has turned positive at $0.12
Sales holding the strong recovery curve
The ownership structure is particularly attractive. Institutions + insiders hold the vast majority of the float while more than 20% of the float is borrowed short, creating the potential for a meaningful squeeze.
Technical Picture
On the Daily, price is consolidating above the 200EMA.
On the Weekly, the stock is in a very tight wedge between the 8/50EMA.
On the Monthly, price has recaptured the 8EMA with a lot of room to run to the next level of resistance at the 21EMA.
This is a stock that was hammered down from the $40s to the single digits during 2024-2025, and now is showing signs of technical repair and recovery.
The Options chain has very heavy OTM bullish positioning across multiple strikes relative to the $1B market capitalization consistent with institutional bets.
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Risks
This remains a turnaround story so execution matters.
Same-store sales and traffic trends remain under pressure, and restaurant turnarounds can fail. A decisive breakdown below recent support and the rising weekly moving averages would negate the bullish thesis.
How I’m Trading it
Shares + September Calls. I like this one a lot so won’t be shy about going heavier.
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