A Restaurant Rotation Is Underway: Traffic Tells the Story

2026-02-02 05:50:00 ET

It was a difficult year for restaurant stocks in 2025. During the past 12 months, the segment is down about 0.7%, trailing the S&P 500 's 16% gain by a wide margin.

Although the restaurant index was little changed, there have been some wild moves in individual stocks: Sweetgreen (NYSE: SG) collapsed by 80%, Cava Group (NYSE: CAVA) dropped 50%, and even Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) fell 30%.

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