Utz Brands Inc (UTZ)
NYSE:UTZ
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UTZ Brands
(NYSE:UTZ)
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Rating:57Neutral
Price Target:
$8.00
▲(5.68% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:05/09/26
The score reflects mixed fundamentals: strong revenue growth, improving cash flow, and better leverage are tempered by negative operating/net margins. Technicals are a notable headwind with the stock trading below all major moving averages and weak momentum. Valuation gets modest support from the ~3.3% dividend, while the earnings call was constructive with reiterated guidance and a clear free-cash-flow target, though near-term demand and cost risks remain.
Positive Factors
Revenue acceleration and branded growth
Sustained top-line acceleration and branded organic growth indicate durable consumer demand and stronger shelf presence. Over 2–6 months this supports scale benefits, funds ongoing marketing/innovation, and provides a foundation to convert share gains into longer-term margin recovery if cost levers hold.
Negative Factors
Negative profitability and thin gross margins
Margins have deteriorated despite revenue gains, leaving limited cushion against input-cost swings or promotional pressure. Persistently low gross and negative operating margins impair the company's ability to generate sustainable earnings, requiring structural margin fixes to support durable profitability.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Revenue acceleration and branded growth
Sustained top-line acceleration and branded organic growth indicate durable consumer demand and stronger shelf presence. Over 2–6 months this supports scale benefits, funds ongoing marketing/innovation, and provides a foundation to convert share gains into longer-term margin recovery if cost levers hold.
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
$1.11B
Dividend Yield2.51%
Average Volume (3M)2.06M
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)0.15
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. Volume2,720,140
30 Day Avg. Volume2,059,642
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 Cap0.59
Enterprise Value/Revenue0.45
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit2.04
Enterprise Value/Ebitda19.25
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$11.85Price Target Upside56.54% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering10
EPS Forecast (FY)0.78
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.50B
UTZ Brands Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Utz Brands, Inc. operates as a snack food manufacturing company. It offers a range of salty snacks, including potato chips, kettle chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, veggie snacks, pork skins, pub/party mixes, salsa and queso, ready-t...
How the Company Makes Money
Utz primarily makes money by manufacturing and selling branded salty snack products to customers in the food retail and broader food distribution ecosystem. Revenue is generated mainly through (1) sales to retail channels (e.g., grocery, mass merc...
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 | 34.16M | 180.90M | 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
Positive
7.57
Price Trends
7.58
Positive
8.67
Negative
10.06
Negative
Market Momentum
-0.08
Negative
52.43
Neutral
73.59
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For UTZ, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 7.57 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 7.59, below the 50-day MA of 7.58, and below the 200-day MA of 10.06, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.08 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 52.43 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 73.59 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
62 Neutral | $20.33B | 14.63 | -3.31% | 3.23% | 1.93% | -12.26% | |
62 Neutral | $1.38B | 225.07 | 6.24% | 3.53% | -2.04% | -23.39% | |
59 Neutral | $1.01B | -2.47 | -6.15% | ― | 0.34% | -182.07% | |
57 Neutral | $1.11B | -101.73 | -1.17% | 2.51% | 2.34% | -128.55% | |
57 Neutral | $1.53B | 4.27 | 10.26% | 9.15% | 3.00% | -66.29% | |
57 Neutral | $1.48B | 10.03 | 5.28% | 5.40% | 4.84% | -31.84% |
* Consumer Defensive Sector Average
UTZ
UTZ Brands
7.70
-4.16
-35.09%
FLO
Flowers Foods
7.01
-8.27
-54.12%
JJSF
J & J Snack Foods
73.75
-35.21
-32.31%
SMPL
Simply Good Foods
11.60
-22.75
-66.23%
NOMD
Nomad Foods
10.13
-6.57
-39.33%
UTZ Brands Corporate Events
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...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial Disclosures
Utz Brands Unveils Post-Transformation Growth and Margin Strategy
Positive
Feb 18, 2026
On February 18, 2026, Utz Brands used its appearance at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference to highlight its transition out of a capital‑intensive transformation phase and reaffirm its positioning as the largest pure‑play...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackFinancial Disclosures
Utz Brands Announces First Share Repurchase Program, Signals Confidence
Positive
Feb 12, 2026
On February 12, 2026, Utz Brands reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2025 net sales up 0.4% to $342.2 million and full-year 2025 net sales up 2.1% to $1.44 billion, with branded salty snacks organic growth of 2.5% in the quarter and 4.7% for the year. ...
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.