UTZ Brands (UTZ) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $1.80B
• Dividend Yield: 1.98%
• Average Volume (3M): 1.48M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 39.9
• Beta (1Y): 0.10
• Revenue Growth: -1.29%
• EPS Growth: N/A
• Country: US
• Employees: 3,000
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 72
• Industry: Packaged Foods
• EPS (TTM): 0.16
• Shares Outstanding: 86,061,750
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,151,056
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,478,154
• PEG Ratio: 0.02
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.37
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.00
• P/FCF Ratio: -18.77
• 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: $16.81
• Price Target Upside: 37.11% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 8

• Rating: 53 Neutral
• Price Target: ―

UTZ Brands' overall stock score reflects a mix of solid financial performance and strategic initiatives, countered by high valuation concerns and bearish technical indicators. The company's strengths in organic sales growth and distribution expansion are noteworthy, but profitability challenges and negative cash flow warrant attention. The high P/E ratio and low technical momentum limit the stock's attractiveness, despite positive earnings call sentiment.

Positive Factors

Financial Outlook

UTZ reiterated its financial outlook with organic net sales growth and adjusted EBITDA growth of +6% to +10%.

Leadership Changes

The appointment of William J. Kelley Jr. as the new CFO and Principal Accounting Officer is seen as a strategic move, bringing experience from leading companies like Tropicana Brands Group and The Kraft Heinz Company.

Market Share and Growth

The company gained dollar and volume share in salty snacks, including strong growth in Expansion Geographies and non-measured channels.

Negative Factors

Category Challenges

Challenges such as GLP-1 expansion and SNAP cuts are expected to lead to ongoing headwinds in the salty snack category.

Debt and Valuation Concerns

Despite UTZ's efforts in cost reduction and efficiency, the stock is predicted to trade at a lower valuation due to subdued organic growth and high debt leverage.

Market Environment

The 8.6% pullback in Utz stock is attributed to market fears of a more promotional environment, although this may be an overreaction.

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-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks under the Utz, Zapp's, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Good Health, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TGIF, TORTIYAHS!, and other brand names. The company distributes its products to grocery, mass, club, convenience, drug, and other retailers though direct shipments, distributors, and direct store delivery routes. Utz Brands, Inc. was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

How the Company Makes Money

UTZ Brands generates revenue through the manufacturing and sale of its snack food products. The company's primary revenue stream comes from distributing its products to a variety of retail partners, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and mass merchandisers. Additionally, UTZ benefits from partnerships with private label brands and produces snacks under various brand names, enhancing its market reach. The company's earnings are influenced by factors such as consumer preferences, pricing strategies, and distribution efficiency. UTZ also invests in marketing and product innovation to maintain its competitive edge and drive sales growth.

UTZ Brands Financial Statement Overview

Summary

UTZ Brands exhibits solid revenue growth and operational efficiency, though profitability remains a challenge with low net profit margins. The balance sheet reflects reduced leverage and a stable equity position. However, cash flow management poses a concern due to negative free cash flow, necessitating improved cash management strategies for long-term sustainability.

Income Statement

UTZ Brands demonstrates steady revenue growth with a TTM (Trailing-Twelve-Months) revenue of $1.41 billion, showing a slight increase from the previous year. The gross profit margin remains healthy at 34.9%. However, the net profit margin is relatively low at 1.7%, indicating limited profitability after expenses. The EBIT and EBITDA margins at 3.9% and 9.2% respectively suggest moderate operational efficiency.

Balance Sheet

The debt-to-equity ratio has improved significantly, dropping to 0.05 in the TTM period, which indicates reduced financial leverage. Return on Equity (ROE) at 3.2% shows low profitability relative to shareholder equity. The equity ratio is solid at 26.1%, reflecting a stable capital structure with a significant portion of assets financed by equity.

Cash Flow

The company’s free cash flow has turned negative in the TTM period, signaling potential issues in maintaining cash reserves after capital expenses. The operating cash flow to net income ratio of 4.41 indicates strong cash generation relative to net income, yet the free cash flow to net income ratio is negative, highlighting cash outflows exceeding inflows.

Breakdown
TTM	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Mar 2023	Mar 2022	Mar 2021
Income Statement		Total Revenue
1.41B	1.41B	1.44B	1.41B	1.18B	768.23M
	Gross Profit
493.43M	494.78M	456.49M	449.06M	383.91M	253.80M
	EBIT
54.93M	58.91M	16.02M	5.34M	10.57M	38.75M
	EBITDA
129.87M	185.27M	100.80M	93.27M	131.52M	-16.07M
	Net Income Common Stockholders
27.47M	15.97M	-24.94M	-14.04M	8.00M	-16.17M
Balance Sheet		Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments
62.75M	56.14M	52.02M	72.93M	41.90M	46.83M
	Total Assets
2.78B	2.73B	2.75B	2.84B	2.72B	2.58B
	Total Debt
1.03B	940.82M	985.34M	944.74M	876.63M	812.05M
	Net Debt
964.23M	884.68M	933.32M	871.80M	834.73M	765.22M
	Total Liabilities
1.40B	1.34B	1.36B	1.39B	1.28B	1.06B
	Stockholders Equity
725.60M	702.45M	669.50M	703.15M	679.71M	602.26M
Cash Flow		Free Cash Flow
-53.27M	7.53M	20.92M	-39.77M	14.89M	8.00M
	Operating Cash Flow
103.91M	106.17M	76.64M	48.19M	48.39M	27.99M
	Investing Cash Flow
-123.78M	74.96M	-48.49M	-76.07M	-136.10M	-115.88M
	Financing Cash Flow
44.52M	-177.01M	-49.05M	58.91M	82.78M	96.03M

UTZ Brands Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 12.26
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Negative
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Positive

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 12.26 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 12.50, below the 50-day MA of 13.15, and below the 200-day MA of 15.20, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.22 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 42.02 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 15.66 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for UTZ.

UTZ Brands Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
JBSS	66 Neutral	$709.41M	12.76	16.58%	1.40%	7.40%	-14.93%
NOMD	66 Neutral	$2.77B	11.91	8.59%	3.46%	-0.24%	26.74%
Sector *	64 Neutral	$8.78B	14.55	4.78%	173.91%	3.39%	2.17%
JJSF	58 Neutral	$2.19B	28.93	8.20%	2.71%	0.49%	-12.32%
THS	54 Neutral	$1.14B	173.72	0.43%	―	-3.37%	-65.26%
UTZ	53 Neutral	$1.80B	39.89	3.93%	1.98%	-1.29%	―
BGS	47 Neutral	$335.95M	―	-32.48%	18.63%	-7.06%	-83.82%

UTZ Brands Corporate Events

Utz Brands Reports Strong Q1 2025 Financial Results

On May 1, 2025, Utz Brands reported its first quarter 2025 financial results, showing a 1.6% increase in net sales to $352.1 million and a significant 137.5% rise in net income to $5.7 million compared to the previous year. The company achieved a 2.9% growth in organic net sales, with branded salty snacks seeing a 4.9% increase. Despite a decline in gross profit margin, adjusted gross profit margin expanded by 100bps, driven by productivity savings. Utz reaffirmed its full-year 2025 outlook, expecting continued growth in branded salty snacks and adjusted EBITDA, while anticipating modest impact from tariff volatility due to domestic sourcing of input costs.

Utz Brands Appoints New CFO Ahead of May 2025

Utz Brands announced the appointment of William J. Kelley Jr. as the new Chief Financial Officer, effective May 1, 2025, succeeding Ajay Kataria. Additionally, Mark Schreiber, the Chief Customer Officer, will retire, and Jeremy Stuart will take over the role. The company reaffirmed its fiscal year 2025 outlook and announced preliminary first-quarter results, expecting a slight increase in net sales and net income. Utz continues to focus on growth through its branded salty snacks and aims for improved financial performance, including adjusted EBITDA growth and expanded profit margins.