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Krispy Kreme gets crushed as JPMorgan downgrades the embattled donut maker

Krispy Kreme shares are down more than 6% this morning after JPMorgan downgraded the stock to “underweight” (sell) from “neutral,” raising doubts about the company’s turnaround strategy. The bank hasn’t had a price target on the stock since May. Shares have lost over 80% of their value since Krispy Kreme’s 2021 IPO.

JPMorgan pointed to a host of headwinds, including the lingering fallout from Krispy Kreme’s scrapped McDonald’s expansion deal. The company originally planned to stock its donuts in all of the fast-food giant’s US locations by 2026, but the rollout ultimately backfired.

“This disruption led to the company being in survivor mode, including the sale of various store assets around the world and an attempted shift to 3P delivery to reduce costs and operational complexity,” analyst Rahul Krotthapalli wrote.

Another issue, he noted, is that Krispy Kreme’s appeal depends on freshness, which means donuts lose their magic minutes after glazing, making it tough to scale an off-site delivery model. Meanwhile, execution risks loom as the company tries to offload overseas stores, while US sales keep sliding from pricing pressure and competition.

Krispy Kreme shares are now down 63% year to date.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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