Young Money

Good morning! Heading into the last weekend of the Paris Olympics, before the torch is passed to Los Angeles for the 2028 Games, Team USA is top of the [medal table]( with a lot of action [still to come](. Today we’re exploring: - Salad economics: Sweetgreen’s losses are narrowing, but it’s still in the red. - Swings and misses: Callaway’s exploring a Topgolf spinoff. - Young money: Teens’ summer jobs are now paying more than ever. Have feedback for us? Just hit reply - we'd love to hear from you! TOGETHER WITH [Sponsor Logo](   Sweetgreen’s stock looks set to soar this morning, up more than 20% in pre-market trading, after the company reported nearly $185 million in Q2 sales of salads like the “Chicken Pesto Parm”, the “Shroomami”, and the “Kale Caesar”. But, as [in the previous quarter](, despite selling salads for $15, $16, or even $18... Sweetgreen is still not profitable. We’ve indexed Sweetgreen’s earnings to $15 — roughly the price of a typical salad at the chain (although there’s a strong argument that $16 or $17 might be more appropriate) — to understand the latest in salad economics. When we did this exercise in Q1, Sweetgreen was losing $2.56 for every $15 of revenue. Now, it’s losing just $1.31 for every $15 of sales. The company’s core restaurant operations are, once again, nicely in the green with “restaurant-level” profit margins of some 22%, boosted in part by new menu items featuring lots of [caramelized steak](. But, once you account for all of the other overheads, the depreciation of its assets, some “pre-opening” and other costs (worth about 14 cents in our example), Sweetgreen is still in the red. Romaine-ing calm With a valuation of more than $3 billion, investors clearly expect the company to continue opening stores (it opened a net of 4 more in the latest quarter), growing sales, and expanding its margins. And a big part of the plan is automation, with [robots able to dispense, mix, and serve salads]( at select locations — an innovation Sweetgreen calls the “Infinite Kitchen” (an unhelpful name because what exactly is “infinite” is unclear... the amount of salad, the amount of kitchen... or something else?). On a call with analysts yesterday, Sweetgreen’s CEO said they expect that “more than 50% of new units would include Infinite Kitchen next year”. At Naperville, an Infinite Kitchen restaurant that just crossed its one-year anniversary, the restaurant level margin was more than 31%, considerably higher than the company’s average. [Read this on the web instead](   Topgolf — the driving range chain where families, friends, and colleagues can whack a few balls onto greens littered with interactive targets — isn’t getting the footfall it used to, leading parent co. Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp. to explore a [potential spinoff](. Golf ball, bag, and club-making giant Callaway acquired Topgolf in a 2021 deal that valued the make-golf-fun-again brand at more than $2 billion, keen to get in on the less stuffy off-course craze that Topgolf has capitalized on since it was founded 24 years ago. In its latest report, however, the company bemoaned “softer than expected” traffic at the ranges, despite CEO Chip Brewer claiming last year that more people would be visiting a Topgolf in 2024 than “[playing traditional golf](”. FORE! (quarters of decline) Reduced visitor figures have been weighing on Topgolf’s top line too, with same-venue sales declining in each of the last 4 quarters, as the allure of grooving your swing while surrounded by “loud music, giant targets, giant TVs, and hand-crafted food & drinks” has started to fade a little. In [previous]( [quarters](, the company had explained that the falling figures were just a correction following a “post-Covid surge in the corporate events business” in the preceding year. The further we get from the pandemic, though, the more difficult it becomes to explain the drops away, with Brewer conceding in Q2 that he’s been “disappointed” with Topgolf’s same-venue sales figures and the company’s share price for some time. Topgolf Callaway Brands stock is down 19% in the last 5 days, and down more than 67% since its May 2021 peak. [Read this on the web instead](   [Sponsored by Sidebar]( Meet your personal board of directors. As a leader, your peers can offer much-needed perspective. But building go-to professional connections is hard. We’ve all done it: you meet someone inspiring, you agree to stay in touch, and finally going for that coffee gets lost on your to-do list. Using personalized peer matching, [Sidebar]( removes the stress from finding your people. It’s the program that connects senior tech leaders in twice-monthly meetings, led by an expert facilitator who ensures conversations are stimulating and actionable. Sidebar draws members from orgs like Meta, Microsoft, plus innovative startups like Canva and Gusto… and 93% of users say Sidebar has been a game-changer. Groups for August are almost full — don’t miss your chance to [secure your spot here](. [Join Sidebar today]( [Join Sidebar today](   Every year, thousands of American teenagers use their summer vacation as an opportunity to become camp counselors, lifeguards, tutors, hospitality workers, and babysitters for a few months, before starting the fall semester with more thickly lined pockets, some valuable work experience, and a tiny taste of the job fatigue that awaits them. This summer is no exception: new labor force participation data from the [Bureau of Labor Statistics]( found that 43.6% of US 16-19 year-olds were working or seeking employment in July, up from 33.8% in January. However, while that seasonal spike is observed annually, Gen Z have started to gently reverse the overall decline in the share of working teens seen in the past 2 decades... the source of much “kids these days don’t work like they used to” discourse. Young money Indeed, teen labor force participation has been slowly but steadily rising since 2013 — when Gen Z began to turn 16 — with the seasonally-adjusted share of teens either working or looking for work hitting a 14-year high [in May](. And, even if this uplift was only a correction to a pandemic-induced job squeeze, reported wage increases might spur more dramatic growth in youth employment in the coming months. Data from payroll platform Gusto, per [CNBC](, found that the typical hourly wage for workers aged 15-19 years hit $15.68 in June, up more than 36% from the start of 2019 — outpacing the growth rate for workers of all ages on private payrolls, which climbed just under 27% across the same period, according to [Fed data](. So, whisper it if you dare at your next family gathering: it’s never been more lucrative to be a teenager with a job in the US. [Read this on the web instead](   More Data - Hot coral: Ocean temperatures around the Great Barrier Reef are the warmest they’ve been in at least [400 years](. - S&P 500 CEOs make 268 times more than their employees, [on average](. - Paris 2024 has now racked up more than 17 billion minutes across NBC streaming platforms, more than all other Olympics [combined](. - Between Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and the second installment of Moana coming out this November, Disney is being tipped to secure 3 separate billion-dollar movies [this year](. - Not content with just being “brat”, Kamala Harris has hitched her campaign to another pop songstress, reportedly making almost $1 million from Chappell Roan-inspired [camo hats](. Step out for a sidebar. In 2x 90-min meetings each month, Sidebar’s program connects you with a curated peer group for tactical, actionable conversations. Members say it’s like having a personal board of directors — [get in now before Sidebar’s August groups are finalized](. Ad   Hi-Viz - Video viz [deep dive]( on the hidden crowd engineering behind queues, concession stands, and other event venue features. Off the charts: Membership fee revenue for which company’s increasingly exclusive club is helping profits soar? [Answer below]. [Answer here.](   Thanks for stopping by! Have some [feedback](mailto:daily@chartr.co?subject=Feedback&body=Hi, I like the newsletters, but I had a thought for you...) or want to [sponsor this newsletter](mailto:advertising@sherwoodmedia.com?subject=I’m interested in advertising with Sherwood Media)?   Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below. 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