Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Utz Brands, Inc. UTZ
$14.28 +0.07% Close, Oct 5, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $1.26B
Strong trendExpensive vs sector
Next earnings report: Oct 29, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $-0.33, down 259.4% year over year.
- Operating margin narrowed to -5.2% from 2.7% a year earlier.
- Net debt is 9.9× EBITDA, a high level of leverage.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Defensive sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 6, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 41%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 6%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 36%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 41%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 12%
- Gross marginBottom 24%
- Operating marginBottom 10%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 42%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 6%
- Interest coverBottom 12%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 24%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 31%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 24%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 35%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 26%
- 6-month returnTop 2%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 23%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 1%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 5%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 31%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 45%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 30%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 4%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 2%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 27%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 16%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 6%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 2.3% | 1.9% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -131.0% | -259.4% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 34.8% | 20.1% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 2.7% | -5.2% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -1.7% | 3.5% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 1.9% | 2.3% | ↓ | Bottom 41% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -259.4% | -131.0% | ↓ | Bottom 6% |
| Gross margin | 20.1% | 34.8% | ↓ | Bottom 24% |
| Operating margin | -5.2% | 2.7% | ↓ | Bottom 10% |
| Net margin | -2.0% | 1.3% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 3.5% | -1.7% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | -3.0% | — | Bottom 12% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 0.7% | — | Bottom 36% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -5.2%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.8%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -25.2 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 9.90×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- -1.0×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 1.78%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 1.78%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +1.1%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +3.0%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 28, 2026 (filed Aug 5, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 3 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +2.5%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -3.7%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $13.14
- Target vs current price
- -8.0%
- Analysts with a rating
- 15
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 33%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | +2.9% | +0.1% | +0.0% | +0.7% | — |
| May 6, 2026 | +7.1% | +7.9% | -3.9% | -7.5% | +83.6% |
| Feb 12, 2026 | +0.0% | -19.1% | -16.8% | -34.4% | -32.6% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | +0.0% | -12.6% | -12.4% | -19.2% | -12.3% |
| Jul 31, 2025 | -10.5% | -6.5% | -7.1% | -3.2% | -11.3% |
| May 1, 2025 | +0.0% | -8.7% | -8.9% | -1.4% | +6.0% |
| Feb 20, 2025 | +15.8% | +2.8% | +2.0% | +0.6% | -4.5% |
| Oct 31, 2024 | +0.0% | +6.2% | +11.2% | +5.1% | -17.2% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026 | $0.19 | $0.18 | +2.9% | $371.8M |
| May 6, 2026 | $0.15 | $0.14 | +7.1% | $361.3M |
| Feb 12, 2026 | $0.26 | $0.26 | +0.0% | $342.2M |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $0.23 | $0.23 | +0.0% | $377.8M |
| Jul 31, 2025 | $0.17 | $0.19 | -10.5% | $366.7M |
| May 1, 2025 | $0.16 | $0.16 | +0.0% | $352.1M |
| Feb 20, 2025 | $0.22 | $0.19 | +15.8% | $341.0M |
| Oct 31, 2024 | $0.21 | $0.21 | +0.0% | $365.5M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (forward) | 18.4× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 22.8× | — | — | Bottom 24% |
| EV / Sales | 1.54× | — | — | Bottom 35% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 4.04% | — | — | Bottom 31% |
| Earnings yield | -2.30% | — | — | Bottom 24% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 38.5× – 172.7× since Dec 31, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +17.0%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -259.4%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +188.4%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✓ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 55
- Days above the 200-day average
- 54
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +17.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +4.7%
- Distance from 50-day average
- +0.6%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +42.8%
- RSI (14)
- 74.1
- Relative volume
- 1.03×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 130.9%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 96th percentile · High for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.13
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.03
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- +0.0%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -65.2%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2021 | Jun 4, 2026 | -77.4% | 1278 days | Not yet recovered |
| Feb 22, 2021 | Mar 4, 2021 | -11.3% | 8 days | 9 days (Mar 17, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $1.26B
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$0.33
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.45B
- Dividend yield
- 1.76%
- 52-week range
- $6.78 – $14.33
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.18B | $1.41B | $1.44B | $1.41B | $1.44B |
| Gross profit | $383.9M | $449.1M | $456.5M | $494.8M | $322.2M |
| Operating income | $10.6M | $5.3M | $16.0M | $58.9M | $98.5M |
| Net income | $20.6M | -$392,000 | -$24.9M | $16.0M | $800,000 |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.25 | -$0.00 | -$0.31 | $0.19 | $0.01 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $365.5M | $341.0M | $352.1M | $366.7M | $377.8M | $342.2M | $361.3M | $371.8M |
| Net income | -$2.2M | $2.3M | $7.5M | $10.5M | -$14.7M | -$2.5M | -$1.7M | -$10.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | -$0.03 | $0.03 | $0.09 | $0.12 | -$0.17 | -$0.03 | -$0.02 | -$0.11 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $48.4M | $48.2M | $76.6M | $106.2M | $112.2M |
| Capital expenditure | -$33.5M | -$88.0M | -$55.7M | -$98.6M | -$102.8M |
| Free cash flow | $14.9M | -$39.8M | $20.9M | $7.5M | $9.4M |
| Dividends paid | -$11.9M | -$17.2M | -$18.5M | -$21.7M | -$22.3M |
| Net share buybacks | $0 | $28.0M | $0 | -$1.4M | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $58.6M
- Total assets
- $2.78B
- Total liabilities
- $1.46B
- Total debt
- $1.03B
- Net debt
- $971.9M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $695.9M
As of Jun 28, 2026 (filed Aug 5, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2026 | $0.06 | Oct 1, 2026 |
| Jun 22, 2026 | $0.06 | Jul 2, 2026 |
| Apr 13, 2026 | $0.06 | Apr 23, 2026 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $0.06 | Jan 2, 2026 |
| Sep 15, 2025 | $0.06 | Oct 2, 2025 |
| Jun 16, 2025 | $0.06 | Jul 3, 2025 |
| Apr 7, 2025 | $0.07 | Apr 24, 2025 |
| Dec 16, 2024 | $0.06 | Jan 2, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 9,194,177
- Days to cover
- 5.67
- Change vs previous report
- +30.1%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.