Krispy Kreme Struggles to Stay Sweet After 80% Plunge

Krispy Kreme’sDNUT

iconic “Hot Donuts Now” sign might still glow, but its stock has gone ice-cold. Since its 2021 IPO, the brand’s shares have plunged over 80%, now just worth the price of a donut. A perfect storm of corporate slip-ups and market headwinds is testing whether this indulgent legend can stay fresh in a world gone sour.

• JP Morgan analysts callDNUT
  a “major disappointment” — with revenue tumbling 13.4% in the latest quarter amid a $441M loss thanks to a brand value writeoff.
• The overall pastry market has been shrinking as GLP-1s curb appetites and consumers cut non-essential costs — while Dunkin’, Tim HortonsQSR
  , and Duck Donuts compete for scraps.

Sugar crash: Krispy Kreme’s McDonald’sMCD

longshot aimed to bring donuts to 6K stores, but instead, it saddledDNUT

with ~$30M in breakup bills. Now, the desperate company is flooding shelves at CostcoCOST

and WalmartWMT

, outsourcing logistics, and offloading international shops to franchisees. Critics say this could dilute the brand — and ifDNUT

can’t pull off a turnaround fast, investors might be left only with empty boxes and memories of sweeter days.