Shares of Krispy Kreme (DNUT -8.27%) continued to sink on Wednesday after dropping by more than 20% on Tuesday. As of 11:50 a.m. ET, the stock was down by about 8.6%.
The doughnut purveyor issued its fourth-quarter report before the opening bell on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, multiple Wall Street analysts were issuing downbeat reports and lowering their price targets for its stock. Investing news website The Fly reported that Piper Sandler analyst Brian Mullan cut his price target for the stock by 33% to $12 per share. Morgan Stanley's analysts were more aggressive, slashing their price target in half to just $6 per share.
Krispy Kreme missed expectations on the top and bottom lines in Q4, which was bad enough. But even the high end of management's revenue guidance range for 2025 is modestly lower than it booked in 2024. This goes against what analysts had been expecting. The general notion had been that demand for Krispy Kreme is strong, and that the company's moves to expand distribution would lead to growth. Now, growth is apparently off the table for 2025, so analysts are dialing back their price targets.
If Krispy Kreme's "hot now" donuts ever come to my hometown, I'll be the first in line to buy a dozen, but as much as I love the product, I appreciate investors' current apprehensions about the stock. The company is carrying a heavy debt load and its profit margins are thin, making growth a crucial component of the investment thesis. It has promise, particularly thanks to its growing partnership with McDonald's. But until Krispy Kreme can deliver greater sales growth, its stock will be unlikely to provide any meaningful gains for shareholders.
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