UTZ Brands (UTZ) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $1.82B
• Dividend Yield: 1.85%
• Average Volume (3M): 1.02M
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 40.4
• Beta (1Y): 0.13
• Revenue Growth: -1.29%
• EPS Growth: N/A
• Country: US
• Employees: 3,000
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Sector Strength: 57
• Industry: Packaged Foods
• EPS (TTM): 0.16
• Shares Outstanding: 86,061,750
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 1,264,372
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 1,024,868
• PEG Ratio: 0.32
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.81
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.00
• P/FCF Ratio: -31.94
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.17
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.38
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 4.34
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 3.23
• 1Y Price Target: $16.69
• Price Target Upside: 29.38% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Strong Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 8

• Rating: 49 Neutral
• Price Target: $13.50 ▲(4.65%Upside)

UTZ Brands has demonstrated revenue growth and strategic initiatives, but faces challenges with profitability, valuation, and cash flow management. While technical indicators show a neutral trend, overvaluation concerns persist. Positive earnings call highlights are tempered by ongoing market challenges.

Positive Factors

Financial Performance

EBITDA grew 4% and margin expanded 30 bps to 12.8%, showing positive financial performance.

Sales Growth

Utz's branded salty snacks business has grown retail sales a robust +3.7% YOY despite a salty snack category that has been down slightly YOY during this period.

Strategic Leadership

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.

Negative Factors

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.

Pricing Concerns

The greater-than-anticipated impact from negative price/mix in 1Q25 due to the planned use of bonus packs may have sparked some concern, resulting in significant share weakness on the day earnings was reported.

Sales Decline

There will be a headwind related to Non-Branded and Non-Salty Snacks, which saw sales down close to -9% YOY last quarter, resulting in about a -2pt YOY headwind to the total company.

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 primarily through the sale of its snack products across various distribution channels. The company sells its products through a combination of direct-store delivery, direct-to-warehouse, and third-party distributors, ensuring extensive reach and availability in supermarkets, convenience stores, grocery stores, and other retail outlets. UTZ also leverages e-commerce platforms to reach a broader audience, capitalizing on the growing trend of online grocery shopping. Key revenue streams include the retail sales of its branded snacks, private label offerings, and potential collaborations with other food companies for co-manufacturing or product development. Strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and product innovations also contribute to the company's growth and expansion in the competitive snack food industry.

UTZ Brands Financial Statement Overview

Summary

UTZ Brands shows solid revenue growth and operational efficiency with a healthy gross margin. However, low net profit margins and negative free cash flow indicate challenges in profitability and cash management.

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
EBITDA	157.72M	182.12M	99.25M	91.33M	127.67M	-16.07M
Net Income	27.47M	15.97M	-24.94M	-392.00K	20.55M	-16.17M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	2.78B	2.73B	2.75B	2.84B	2.72B	2.58B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	62.75M	56.14M	52.02M	72.93M	41.90M	46.83M
Total Debt	1.03B	940.82M	985.34M	944.74M	876.63M	812.05M
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: Neutral
• Last Price: 12.90
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For UTZ, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 12.9 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 13.08, above the 50-day MA of 12.87, and below the 200-day MA of 14.58, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.02 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 50.40 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 66.51 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for UTZ.

UTZ Brands Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
JBSS	76 Outperform	$777.37M	13.98	16.58%	12.71%	7.40%	-14.93%
NOMD	67 Neutral	$2.62B	11.28	8.59%	3.93%	-0.24%	26.74%
Sector *	64 Neutral	kr25.15B	13.88	159.06%	3.76%	8.53%	-14.21%
JJSF	58 Neutral	$2.26B	29.89	8.20%	2.64%	0.49%	-12.32%
THS	50 Neutral	$1.04B	159.58	0.43%	―	-3.37%	-65.26%
UTZ	49 Neutral	$1.82B	40.39	3.93%	1.85%	-1.29%	―
BGS	44 Neutral	$331.96M	―	-32.48%	18.27%	-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.