SunOpta (STKL) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $563.93M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 848.20K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 1.38
• Revenue Growth: 11.31%
• EPS Growth: 99.83%
• Country: US
• Employees: 1,248
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 42
• Industry: Packaged Foods
• EPS (TTM): 0.05
• Shares Outstanding: 120,755,140
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 629,922
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 848,204
• PEG Ratio: 0.58
• Price to Book (P/B): 6.13
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.26
• P/FCF Ratio: 50.32
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.70
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 1.21
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 9.04
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 13.89
• 1Y Price Target: $8.00
• Price Target Upside: 66.67% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 4
• EPS Forecast (FY): N/A
• Revenue Forecast (FY): N/A

• Rating: 58 Neutral
• Price Target: $5.00 ▲(4.17% Upside)

The score is driven primarily by improving operating trends and strong free cash flow growth, but it is held back by continued net losses and high leverage. Technicals show a short-term upswing with overbought signals, while valuation metrics provide limited support due to a highly negative P/E and no dividend yield. Earnings call commentary was moderately positive on growth and guidance, tempered by margin and operational headwinds.

Positive Factors

Consistent Volume-Driven Revenue Growth

Sustained, customer-driven volume growth across consecutive quarters indicates durable underlying demand and sticky relationships with top customers. This trend supports predictable revenue streams, scale benefits, and long-term contract leverage that can underpin margin recovery and strategic investment plans.

Robust Free Cash Flow Improvement

Meaningful FCF growth provides internal funding for working capital, capex, and deleveraging without sole reliance on external financing. Over the medium term, stronger cash generation helps absorb short-term losses, supports capacity investments, and improves financial flexibility to execute strategic initiatives.

Planned Capacity Expansion

Committing capital to expand aseptic capacity responds directly to accelerating demand and reduces future supply constraints. Successful execution increases throughput, enables higher-margin product sales, and supports long-term revenue growth, provided the project alleviates current bottlenecks and improves operational efficiency.

Negative Factors

High Financial Leverage

Elevated leverage constrains financial flexibility and raises refinancing and interest risks, especially while the company is still unprofitable. High debt levels limit the ability to invest opportunistically and require sustained cash generation or asset sales to reach targeted leverage, prolonging balance sheet vulnerability.

Continued Net Losses

Ongoing net losses erode equity and limit retained earnings available for reinvestment. Persistent unprofitability increases reliance on cash flow improvements and external financing to fund growth, making long-term margin recovery and return on capital critical to restore sustainable shareholder value.

Operational Inefficiencies Pressuring Margins

Rapid volume growth has exposed production constraints and led to higher maintenance, waste, and incremental costs, causing gross margin decline. Unless addressed by process improvements and capex, these structural inefficiencies can persist and delay durable margin expansion despite strong demand.

SunOpta Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

SunOpta Inc. manufactures and sells plant-based and fruit-based food and beverage products to retail customers, foodservice distributors, branded food companies, and food manufacturers worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Plant-Based Foods and Beverages, and Fruit-Based Foods and Beverages. The Plant-Based Foods and Beverages segment provides plant-based beverages, and liquid and dry ingredients that utilizes almond, soy, coconut, oat, hemp, and other bases, as well as broths, teas, and nutritional beverages. This segment also packages dry- and oil-roasted in-shell sunflower and sunflower kernels; and processes and sells raw sunflower inshell and kernel for food and feed applications. The Fruit-Based Foods and Beverages segment offers individually quick frozen (IQF) fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, mangos, pineapples, blends, and other berries for retail; and IQF and bulk frozen fruits, including purées, toppings, and smoothies for foodservice, and custom fruit preparations for industrial use. This segment also provides fruit snacks comprising bars, twists, ropes, and bite-sized products. The company was formerly known as Stake Technology Ltd. and changed its name to SunOpta Inc. in October 2003. SunOpta Inc. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

How the Company Makes Money

SunOpta generates revenue through multiple streams, primarily from the sale of its plant-based and fruit-based products. The company earns money by selling its branded products as well as private-label offerings to grocery chains and foodservice operators. Additionally, SunOpta's revenue model includes contracts with major retailers and distributors, allowing for consistent supply and demand. The company also benefits from strategic partnerships and collaborations with other food and beverage brands, which can enhance product offerings and expand market reach. Factors contributing to its earnings include the growing demand for plant-based and organic products, increasing consumer awareness of health and wellness, and the company's focus on innovation and quality in its product lines.

SunOpta Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Mixed fundamentals: modest TTM revenue growth (2.60%) and improving EBIT/EBITDA margins (3.23%/8.15%), but the company remains unprofitable (net margin -2.02%) and highly leveraged (debt-to-equity 2.42). Cash flow trends are a positive, with strong TTM free cash flow growth (52.07%), supporting operational progress despite net losses.

Income Statement

SunOpta's income statement shows a modest revenue growth of 2.60% in the TTM, with improving EBIT and EBITDA margins of 3.23% and 8.15% respectively. However, the company is still operating at a net loss with a negative net profit margin of -2.02%, indicating ongoing challenges in achieving profitability.

Balance Sheet

The balance sheet reflects a high debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, suggesting significant leverage which could pose risks. The return on equity is negative due to net losses, but the company maintains an equity ratio of 22.42%, indicating a stable asset base.

Cash Flow

SunOpta's cash flow statement highlights a positive free cash flow growth of 52.07% in the TTM, with strong operating cash flow to net income ratio of -4.46, suggesting solid operational performance despite net losses. However, free cash flow to net income is negative, reflecting challenges in turning profits into free cash.

Breakdown	TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021	Dec 2020
Income Statement
Total Revenue	792.20M	723.73M	626.73M	591.39M	496.45M	789.21M
Gross Profit	105.83M	96.30M	86.00M	98.14M	81.14M	109.08M
EBITDA	68.85M	52.80M	33.55M	38.12M	25.78M	7.08M
Net Income	341.00K	-17.39M	-178.79M	-6.43M	-1.17M	82.43M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	694.10M	668.53M	667.15M	855.85M	755.12M	585.62M
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	2.23M	1.55M	306.00K	679.00K	227.00K	251.00K
Total Debt	391.24M	392.68M	378.03M	395.31M	275.83M	107.06M
Total Liabilities	516.07M	504.88M	510.83M	536.64M	450.13M	252.69M
Stockholders Equity	178.03M	148.59M	156.32M	319.21M	304.98M	332.93M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	21.53M	18.10M	-31.28M	-64.56M	-101.12M	66.94M
Operating Cash Flow	50.30M	50.03M	14.84M	60.58M	-21.43M	91.70M
Investing Cash Flow	-27.10M	-18.68M	44.03M	-106.82M	-94.45M	324.52M
Financing Cash Flow	-23.65M	-31.09M	-50.80M	46.70M	115.86M	-417.68M

SunOpta Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Positive
• Last Price: 4.80
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For STKL, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 4.8 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 4.46, above the 50-day MA of 4.01, and below the 200-day MA of 5.30, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 0.20 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 66.22 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 35.31 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for STKL.

SunOpta Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
NATR	80 Outperform	$462.58M	31.85	9.52%	―	6.62%	-7.85%
SENEA	70 Outperform	$829.98M	13.87	9.41%	―	8.33%	47.71%
Sector *	62 Neutral	$20.33B	14.63	-3.31%	3.23%	1.93%	-12.26%
STKL	58 Neutral	$563.93M	-941.18	2.23%	―	11.31%	99.83%
USNA	56 Neutral	$395.96M	22.96	3.20%	―	5.88%	-68.62%
THS	55 Neutral	$1.24B	-5.13	-17.18%	―	-0.69%	-910.85%
HAIN	45 Neutral	$112.30M	-0.20	-75.51%	―	-10.13%	-532.32%