Rothschild & Co downgrades TOST from Buy to Neutral

The Rating Action

Rothschild & Co downgraded TOST (Toast, Inc.) from Buy to Neutral on 2026-05-12. The $13.5B market cap cloud-based restaurant software firm trades at $23.26 per share as of the downgrade date, following a 3.82% daily decline.

Coverage History & Consensus

As of May 1, 2026, the broad analyst consensus for TOST split across 4 Strong Buy, 15 Buy, and 10 Hold ratings, with no Sell or Strong Sell coverage. This 29-analyst distribution has remained consistent since February 2026, with only minor shifts in the number of Buy ratings between March and April. Rothschild & Co’s downgrade moves the firm from the 15-member Buy-side cohort to the Hold group, aligning it with the existing 10 Hold ratings and bringing the total Hold count to 11 for the coverage pool.

Cross-Reference with Fundamentals & Insider Activity

The downgrade follows two key recent data points: Toast’s May 7, 2026, first-quarter 2026 earnings report and April 2026 insider stock sales. In Q1, adjusted EPS hit $0.29, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28, but revenue totaled $1.63B, slightly missing the $1.632B consensus forecast (SEC 10-Q filing, 2026-05-07). Separately, two insiders sold shares in April: Director Patrick Deval disposed of 1,667 shares on April 23, 2026, at $36.945 per share for gross proceeds of $61,587, while Chief Revenue Officer Jonathan Vassil sold 6,438 shares on April 3, 2026, at $26.187 per share for $168,592 (Form 4 SEC filings).

What This Rating Change Does NOT Signal

First, the downgrade does not include a disclosed price target, as no valuation range was cited in the provided rating details. Second, it does not account for the May 12, 2026, client win announced by Business Wire, where Hungry Howie’s Pizza selected Toast for a 500-location technology footprint. Third, the downgrade does not reflect post-December 31, 2025, institutional positioning shifts, as the latest 13F data covers holdings through the end of 2025, with no Q1 2026 institutional flow data included in the provided context.