Utz Brands Inc (UTZ)
NYSE:UTZ
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UTZ Brands
(NYSE:UTZ)
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Rating:58Neutral
Price Target:
$7.50
▼(-0.92% Downside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:05/29/26
Overall score reflects improving balance sheet and cash flow plus constructive reiterated FY2026 free-cash-flow guidance, tempered by the recent profitability setback (negative operating/net margins) and weak technical trend with the stock trading below key moving averages.
Positive Factors
Strengthened balance sheet
Substantial deleveraging to ~0.07 debt-to-equity materially improves financial flexibility, reducing refinancing and interest risk. A stronger balance sheet supports continued marketing spend, productivity projects and selective investments over multiple quarters, providing a durable buffer for execution.
Negative Factors
Weak profitability
Negative operating margin and a sub-1% net margin signal that recent revenue gains have not converted into profits. Low gross margin (~22%) provides limited cushion versus input cost swings; until structural margin recovery occurs, cash and earnings resilience remain vulnerable.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Strengthened balance sheet
Substantial deleveraging to ~0.07 debt-to-equity materially improves financial flexibility, reducing refinancing and interest risk. A stronger balance sheet supports continued marketing spend, productivity projects and selective investments over multiple quarters, providing a durable buffer for execution.
Read all positive factors
UTZ Brands Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Revenue by Segment
Breaks down revenue by different business segments, highlighting which areas are driving growth and profitability, and where there may be challenges or opportunities for expansion.
Breaks down revenue by different business segments, highlighting which areas are driving growth and profitability, and where there may be challenges or opportunities for expansion.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyUTZ Brands (UTZ) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$1.03B
Dividend Yield2.51%
Average Volume (3M)2.01M
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.17
Revenue Growth2.34%
EPS Growth-128.55%
CountryUS
Employees3,000
SectorConsumer Defensive
Sector Strength42
IndustryPackaged Foods
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)-0.10
Shares Outstanding88,537,060
10 Day Avg. Volume1,577,549
30 Day Avg. Volume2,006,201
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-11.86
Price to Book (P/B)1.27
Price to Sales (P/S)0.63
P/FCF Ratio96.06
Enterprise Value/Market Cap0.61
Enterprise Value/Revenue0.43
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit1.93
Enterprise Value/Ebitda5.20
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$11.61Price Target Upside53.38% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering9
EPS Forecast (FY)0.78
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.50B
UTZ Brands Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Utz Brands, Inc. operates as a leading producer and marketer within the snack food industry. The company provides a diverse selection of savory snacks, including various types of potato chips (such as kettle and tortilla varieties), pretzels, chee...
How the Company Makes Money
UTZ makes money primarily by selling packaged salty snack products to retailers and distributors at wholesale prices, with revenue recognized based on shipment/transfer of control under customer contracts. Its key revenue streams are (1) branded s...
UTZ Brands Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:May 06, 2026
(Q1-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Aug 06, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call reflects a constructive operational and strategic outlook: management reiterated full-year guidance, highlighted strong marketing investment, distribution gains (+7% TDPs), household penetration improvement (+~1 point), product innovation momentum (Boulder Canyon, Tallow, Utz Protein), and input-cost coverage/focused productivity (~4%). Challenges remain — near-term April softness, competitor promotional activity (particularly in mass), and packaging/resin inflation exposure — but executives described them as manageable with multiple mitigation levers (hedges, productivity, RGM, pricing actions). Overall, positive progress on growth initiatives and margin-protection actions outweigh the early-year noise and targeted competitive pressure.Positive Updates
Marketing Investment Ramp
Marketing spend increased 35% year-over-year in Q1; company expects to increase marketing ~40% YoY for the full year and remains committed to a long-term target of 3%–4% of sales (likely a couple of years away). Management sees marketing as a key driver behind brand growth and expansion.
Negative Updates
April/2Q Softness and Seasonal Laps
Management called out softness in April driven by Easter timing shifts, year-over-year programming lapses (notably for Boulder Canyon and cheese business) and merchandising timing with larger customers; April was expected to be a tougher comparative month.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Marketing Investment Ramp
Marketing spend increased 35% year-over-year in Q1; company expects to increase marketing ~40% YoY for the full year and remains committed to a long-term target of 3%–4% of sales (likely a couple of years away). Management sees marketing as a key driver behind brand growth and expansion.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management reiterated full‑year guidance unchanged, saying they remain on track for $60–$80 million of free cash flow in FY2026 and expect sequential improvement after the seasonally cash‑consumptive Q1; key metrics cited include a ~4% productivity program to offset inflation, Q1 marketing up 35% with marketing planned to increase roughly 40% year‑over‑year this year (long‑term target 3–4% of sales), household penetration +1 point, distribution (TDPs) +7%, California sales up high‑single‑digits, and the company is mostly covered for fuel, ags and freight for the year—while taking a conservative, flattish view of full‑year category growth despite early‑year retail category strength (>2%) and year‑to‑date share gains.UTZ Brands Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
46
Neutral
Balance Sheet
72
Positive
Cash Flow
64
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 1.45B | 1.44B | 1.41B | 1.44B | 1.41B | 1.18B |
| Gross Profit | 323.00M | 322.20M | 494.78M | 456.49M | 449.06M | 383.91M |
| EBITDA | 120.06M | 124.90M | 182.12M | 99.25M | 91.33M | 127.67M |
| Net Income | -8.40M | 800.00K | 15.97M | -24.94M | -392.00K | 20.55M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 2.79B | 2.79B | 2.73B | 2.75B | 2.84B | 2.72B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 73.70M | 120.40M | 56.14M | 52.02M | 72.93M | 41.90M |
| Total Debt | 49.50M | 1.17B | 940.82M | 985.34M | 992.46M | 909.01M |
| Total Liabilities | 1.45B | 1.45B | 1.34B | 1.36B | 1.39B | 1.28B |
| Stockholders Equity | 709.50M | 713.70M | 702.45M | 669.50M | 703.15M | 679.71M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 42.41M | 9.40M | 7.53M | 20.92M | -39.77M | 14.89M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 120.22M | 112.20M | 106.17M | 76.64M | 48.19M | 48.39M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -61.67M | -86.90M | 74.96M | -48.49M | -76.07M | -136.10M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -47.56M | 39.00M | -177.01M | -49.05M | 58.91M | 82.78M |
UTZ Brands Technical Analysis
Negative
7.57
Price Trends
7.48
Negative
8.23
Negative
9.64
Negative
Market Momentum
-0.15
Positive
46.18
Neutral
58.02
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For UTZ, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 7.57 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 7.26, above the 50-day MA of 7.48, and below the 200-day MA of 9.64, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.15 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 46.18 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 58.02 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for UTZ.
UTZ Brands Risk Analysis
UTZ Brands disclosed 38 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. UTZ Brands reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
UTZ Brands Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (62)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
69 Neutral | $1.49B | 25.86 | 6.24% | 3.53% | -2.04% | -23.39% | |
65 Neutral | $1.46B | 9.58 | 5.28% | 5.40% | 4.84% | -31.84% | |
62 Neutral | $20.33B | 14.63 | -3.31% | 3.23% | 1.93% | -12.26% | |
59 Neutral | $1.14B | -10.98 | -6.15% | ― | 0.34% | -182.07% | |
58 Neutral | $1.03B | -75.10 | -1.17% | 2.51% | 2.34% | -128.55% | |
53 Neutral | $1.65B | 22.65 | 5.34% | 9.15% | 3.80% | -68.17% |
* Consumer Defensive Sector Average
UTZ
UTZ Brands
7.14
-5.76
-44.64%
FLO
Flowers Foods
7.79
-6.95
-47.14%
JJSF
J & J Snack Foods
79.57
-30.72
-27.86%
SMPL
Simply Good Foods
12.57
-20.40
-61.87%
NOMD
Nomad Foods
10.43
-5.81
-35.76%
UTZ Brands Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesFinancial Disclosures
Utz Brands Reaffirms 2026 Outlook Amid Leadership Transition
Positive
May 28, 2026
On May 26, 2026, Utz Brands announced that Mitchell Arends, its EVP, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer and principal operating officer, had notified the company he would resign effective June 19, 2026 to take a role at another public company, ...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial Disclosures
Utz Brands Delivers Q1 Growth and Margin Expansion
Positive
May 6, 2026
On May 6, 2026, Utz Brands reported first-quarter 2026 results showing net sales up 2.6% year over year to $361.3 million, with organic net sales rising 2.6% and branded salty snacks organic growth of 5.2% driven by its Power Four brands. Despite ...
Executive/Board ChangesShareholder Meetings
Utz Brands Shareholders Approve Directors, Compensation and Auditor
Positive
Apr 27, 2026
At its 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on April 23, 2026, Utz Brands shareholders elected four Class III directors—Timothy Brown, Christina Choi, Roger Deromedi, and Dylan Lissette—to serve on the board until the 2029 annual m...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.