Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (AD) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: €36.14B
• Dividend Yield: 3.42%
• Average Volume (3M): 1.82M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 16.6
• Beta (1Y): 0.26
• Revenue Growth: 3.41%
• EPS Growth: 16.39%
• Country: NL
• Employees: 390,000
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 42
• Industry: Grocery Stores
• EPS (TTM): 0.73
• Shares Outstanding: 891,188,500
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,951,254
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,815,872
• PEG Ratio: 0.44
• Price to Book (P/B): 2.21
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.34
• P/FCF Ratio: 4.50
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: N/A
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: N/A
• 1Y Price Target: €38.01
• Price Target Upside: -9.00% Downside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 8
• EPS Forecast (FY): 2.76
• Revenue Forecast (FY): €93.63B

• Rating: 72 Outperform
• Price Target: €44.00 ▲(5.34% Upside)
• Action: Upgraded Date: 02/18/26
• Date: Action: Upgraded 02/18/26

The score is driven primarily by solid financial performance, led by strong and improving cash generation, offset by thin margins and some leverage volatility. Technicals are supportive but extremely overbought signals add near-term risk. Valuation is reasonable with a moderate dividend yield.

Positive Factors

Cash generation strength

Ahold Delhaize's materially stronger operating cash flow and sharply improved free cash flow in 2025 provide durable funding for reinvestment, store and digital expansion, and shareholder returns. Sustained cash generation reduces reliance on external financing and supports long-term strategic flexibility, though variability warrants monitoring.

Diversified retail footprint & e-commerce

The company's broad geographic footprint across Europe and the U.S., multiple supermarket banners, and a growing online grocery channel create structural resilience. Diversification reduces regional demand risk, while the durable shift to e-commerce supports higher lifetime customer value and long-term revenue mix improvement.

Consistent revenue growth and improving EPS

Steady top-line growth plus a notable revenue step-up in 2025 alongside strong EPS growth indicates improving operational leverage and execution. Over the medium term, this trend supports capacity to fund investments and returns, strengthening competitive positioning in low-margin grocery retail.

Negative Factors

Structurally thin margins

With net margins near 2%, the business has limited earnings buffer; small increases in input costs or pricing pressure materially hit profitability. Low margin structure makes returns sensitive to inflation, competitive price wars, and cost inflation, constraining free cash flow predictability and ROE expansion.

Balance-sheet leverage volatility

Pronounced year-to-year swings in debt levels suggest variable capital allocation and financing reliance, which can increase refinancing and covenant risks during downturns. Leverage variability reduces predictability for M&A, capex pacing, and shareholder distributions over the medium term.

Free cash flow variability

Although FCF strengthened in 2025, historical swings from negative to strongly positive reduce confidence in steady cash returns. For a low-margin retailer, working-capital swings and competitive pricing dynamics can cause FCF volatility, complicating long-term planning for dividends, buybacks, and reinvestment.

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. operates retail food stores and e-commerce primarily in the United States and Europe. Its store formats include supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores, and hypermarkets. It also subleases its stores to franchisees. As of January 2, 2022, it operated 7,452 stores primarily under local brands serving approximately 55 million customers, as well as online. The company was formerly known as Koninklijke Ahold N.V. and changed its name to Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. in July 2016. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands.

How the Company Makes Money

Ahold Delhaize generates revenue primarily through the sale of groceries and related products in its supermarkets and online platforms. The company operates a multi-channel retail strategy, which includes physical stores and e-commerce solutions, allowing it to reach a broader customer base. Key revenue streams include in-store sales, online grocery orders, and sales from private label products, which often have higher margins than national brands. Additionally, Ahold Delhaize benefits from strategic partnerships with suppliers and manufacturers, enabling it to optimize product offerings and pricing. The company's focus on cost efficiency, supply chain management, and customer loyalty programs further contributes to its profitability and revenue growth.

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Overall financials are solid and cash-generative. Income statement shows steady revenue growth but structurally thin margins (~2%) that softened versus earlier periods, raising sensitivity to cost/pricing pressure. Balance sheet is moderate but showed year-to-year leverage volatility (debt rose in 2024 then declined in 2025). Cash flow is a key strength with strong operating cash flow and sharply improved free cash flow in 2025, though variability is a watch-item.

Income Statement

Revenue has grown steadily over the period, with a particularly strong step-up in 2025 (annual revenue up meaningfully versus 2024). Profitability is stable for a grocery retailer, but thin: net margins hover around ~2% and dipped in 2024–2025 versus 2022, while operating profitability also eased from the 2022 peak. Overall, the top-line trajectory is solid, but earnings power remains sensitive to cost inflation and pricing pressure given low margins.

Balance Sheet

Leverage is moderate for the sector with debt generally running a bit above equity in recent years, and equity remains sizable relative to total assets. However, debt levels rose sharply in 2024 and then declined substantially in 2025, indicating some balance-sheet volatility year to year. Returns on equity were healthy in 2021–2023, but softened in 2024, consistent with lower profitability.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is a key strength: operating cash flow is consistently strong and improved into 2025, with free cash flow also accelerating sharply in 2025 after a softer 2024. Free cash flow has generally covered a meaningful portion of earnings (roughly ~55%–65% in years provided), supporting reinvestment and shareholder returns. The main weakness is variability—free cash flow growth has swung from negative to strongly positive across years.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	92.35B	89.36B	88.73B	86.98B	75.60B
Gross Profit	24.51B	23.80B	23.85B	23.30B	20.68B
EBITDA	7.45B	6.48B	6.50B	7.27B	6.34B
Net Income	2.25B	1.76B	1.87B	2.55B	2.25B
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	49.09B	51.84B	47.82B	48.55B	45.71B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	3.93B	6.21B	3.53B	3.23B	3.14B
Total Debt	4.58B	20.32B	17.79B	17.67B	17.09B
Total Liabilities	34.89B	36.39B	33.07B	33.15B	31.99B
Stockholders Equity	14.20B	15.45B	14.76B	15.40B	13.72B
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	6.99B	3.91B	3.99B	3.62B	3.10B
Operating Cash Flow	6.99B	6.22B	6.42B	6.11B	5.47B
Investing Cash Flow	-3.58B	-1.73B	-2.39B	-2.01B	-2.63B
Financing Cash Flow	-5.68B	-1.98B	-3.56B	-4.19B	-3.05B

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 41.77
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Negative
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For NL:AD, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 41.77 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 37.80, above the 50-day MA of 35.46, and above the 200-day MA of 35.22, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 1.86 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 81.20 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 78.09 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for NL:AD.

Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
AD	72 Outperform	€36.14B	16.62	14.64%	3.42%	3.41%	16.39%
Sector *	62 Neutral	$20.33B	14.63	-3.31%	3.23%	1.93%	-12.26%
SLIGR	54 Neutral	€639.04M	21.24	5.83%	5.12%	-2.70%	576.55%