Unbowling For Dollars -- Barrons.com

Dow Jones08:16

By Connor Smith

Sweetgreen is trying to put a wrap on its salads -- or at the very least, put its salads in a wrap. The fast-casual chain known for its high-end greens is rolling out wraps at some locations.

Handhelds are having a moment as consumers tire of so-called slop bowls, a term jokingly used to describe customizable grain-and-salad meals that have become staples of the corporate office lunch.

Sweetgreen needs a jolt. Its shares have tumbled 90% from their Nov. 19, 2021, closing high, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That was the day after the company's initial public offering. This past week, it reported its fourth consecutive quarterly decline in same-store sales.

Three wraps are now available in select markets: Classic Chicken Caesar, Chicken Jalapeño Ranch, and Chicken Salad Bacon Club. Barron's taste-testers found the Caesar wrap a solid lunch option. The Chicken Salad Bacon Club wrap had the right ratio of lettuce to avocado to chicken salad -- although it leaned a bit on the salty side, likely a consequence of the bacon bits sprinkled inside. None of the taste-testers ordered the Jalapeño Ranch -- estimated at 1,185 calories, it was deemed too hefty for the office lunch hour.

"Substantial but not overwhelming," one Barron's staff taste-tester remarked about the Caesar wrap. Another tester appreciated how easy it was to eat. While salad bowls often feel endless, the wrap "had a clear end in sight."

Write to Connor Smith at connor.smith@barrons.com

Last Week

Markets

Responding to the Supreme Court's tariff decision, President Donald Trump imposed global 10% tariffs for 150 days, then raised it to 15%, only to find implementation at 10% had already begun. Gold surged, the dollar and Bitcoin fell. Stocks, hit by another bout of artificial-intelligence jitters, were down but rallied on Tuesday. Trump defended his "golden age" economic policies at the State of the Union speech and warned Iran. Nvidia beat on earnings, but the stock slipped. Safe-haven Treasuries had their best month in a year, and January inflation rose. On the week, the Dow industrials fell 1.3%, the S&P 500 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite 1%.

Companies

A Novo Nordisk experimental anti-obesity drug failed to outperform Eli Lilly's Zepbound. Denmark's Maersk and Switzerland's MSC took over two Panama ports. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that some lenders were doing "dumb things." A KKR-managed credit fund reported weak results. Payments company Block said it would cut head count by nearly half. Trump banned Anthropic from government use after the AI company refused to give in to the Pentagon over AI safety issues.

Deals

After Paramount Skydance raised its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix walked away with a $2.8 billion breakup fee paid by Paramount... Citigroup agreed to sell $2.5 billion in shares, or 24%, of Mexican bank Banamax to investors, including General Atlantic, Blackstone, and the Qatar Investment Authority.

Next Week

Monday 3/2

The Institute for Supply Management releases both its Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Indexes for February. Consensus estimate for the Manufacturing PMI, released on Monday, is a 51.8 reading, about one point less than in January. The Services PMI, released on Wednesday, is expected to be 53.8, even with January's reading.

Tuesday 3/3

CrowdStrike Holdings and Target announce quarterly results on Tuesday, followed by Broadcom on Wednesday and Costco Wholesale on Thursday.

Friday 3/6

The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the jobs report for February. Economists forecast a 60,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls, after a 130,000 gain in January. The unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 4.3%. January's jobs growth was the largest since December of 2024, allaying fears about a weakening labor market. Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller, who dissented in favor of an interest-rate cut at the Federal Open Market Committee's most recent meeting, pointed to strength in the latest jobs report in saying that a rate cut was "close to a coin flip" at the next FOMC meeting in mid-March.

The Numbers

58

Number of gigawatt hours of new energy storage added to the U.S. electric grid in 2025, a record.

1.25 M

Russian casualty estimates in the now five-year war in Ukraine, more than the U.S. casualties in World War II.

90%

The estimated percentage of high-end semiconductor chips that are manufactured in Taiwan.

1,800

The rough number of companies seeking refunds for tariffs since the Supreme Court decision.

Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2026 19:16 ET (00:16 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Comments

We need your insight to fill this gap
Leave a comment