Stocks · Consumer Defensive · Agricultural Farm Products
Vital Farms, Inc. VITL
$9.06 +1.57% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $388.2M
Weak trend
Next earnings report: Nov 3, 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 $-0.04, down 103.9% year over year.
- Over the past year the stock returned -77.7%, behind the S&P 500 by 92.8 percentage points.
- Operating margin narrowed to 0.0% from 10.3% a year earlier.
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 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 14%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 13%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 5%
- Revenue growth accelerationBottom 5%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalBottom 18%
- Gross marginBottom 39%
- Operating marginBottom 18%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 1%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 2%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 35%
- Interest coverBottom 18%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 26%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 2%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 39%
- Sales / enterprise valueTop 22%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 2%
- 6-month returnBottom 12%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 2%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 2%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 22%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 11%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 38%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 38%
- Upside to consensus price targetTop 29%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 12%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 10%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 34%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 35%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 26.4% | 16.4% | ↓ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -7.5% | -103.9% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 37.6% | 28.1% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 10.3% | 0.0% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -0.4% | -16.5% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 16.4% | 26.4% | ↓ | Top 14% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -103.9% | -7.5% | ↓ | Bottom 13% |
| Gross margin | 28.1% | 37.6% | ↓ | Bottom 39% |
| Operating margin | 0.0% | 10.3% | ↓ | Bottom 18% |
| Net margin | 0.0% | 7.8% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | -16.5% | -0.4% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 0.0% | — | Bottom 18% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 28.0% | — | Top 5% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- -2.00×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 3.4%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.5%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -40.1 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.73×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 0.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 7.94%
- Shareholder yield
- 7.94%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -6.3%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.3%
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 6, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- -30.2%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -3.6%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 1 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $13.11
- Target vs current price
- +44.7%
- Analysts with a rating
- 16
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 56%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | +0.4% | +2.2% | -5.9% | -17.3% | — |
| May 7, 2026 | -133.3% | -20.7% | -30.6% | -18.1% | +6.6% |
| Feb 26, 2026 | -7.9% | -10.8% | -19.3% | -45.4% | -62.7% |
| Nov 4, 2025 | +20.0% | +16.1% | +2.5% | -3.2% | -11.6% |
| Aug 7, 2025 | +33.3% | +17.6% | +28.0% | +38.3% | -10.8% |
| May 8, 2025 | +42.3% | -9.3% | -6.2% | -15.0% | +1.1% |
| Feb 27, 2025 | +53.3% | -9.1% | -9.1% | -8.5% | +1.4% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | +33.3% | -14.9% | -22.7% | -6.5% | +2.2% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 2026 | -$0.47 | -$0.47 | +0.4% | $166.0M |
| May 7, 2026 | -$0.03 | $0.09 | -133.3% | $187.2M |
| Feb 26, 2026 | $0.35 | $0.38 | -7.9% | $213.6M |
| Nov 4, 2025 | $0.36 | $0.30 | +20.0% | $198.9M |
| Aug 7, 2025 | $0.36 | $0.27 | +33.3% | $184.8M |
| May 8, 2025 | $0.37 | $0.26 | +42.3% | $162.2M |
| Feb 27, 2025 | $0.23 | $0.15 | +53.3% | $166.0M |
| Nov 7, 2024 | $0.16 | $0.12 | +33.3% | $145.0M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / EBITDA | 14.9× | — | — | Bottom 39% |
| EV / Sales | 0.62× | — | — | Top 22% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | -32.49% | — | — | Bottom 2% |
| Earnings yield | -0.49% | — | — | Bottom 26% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 9.2× – 256.2× since Jun 27, 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
- -77.7%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -103.9%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -68.4%
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
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -8.3%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- -12.0%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -17.8%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -44.2%
- RSI (14)
- 35.4
- Relative volume
- 1.26×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 60.6%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 79th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.25
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.06
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -79.7%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -84.2%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 27, 2025 | May 18, 2026 | -84.2% | 181 days | Not yet recovered |
| Sep 30, 2020 | Jun 29, 2022 | -79.8% | 439 days | 476 days (May 21, 2024) |
| Jun 28, 2024 | Nov 15, 2024 | -39.9% | 98 days | 183 days (Aug 13, 2025) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $388.2M
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- -$0.04
- Revenue (TTM)
- $765.7M
- 52-week range
- $7.95 – $45.16
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $260.9M | $362.1M | $471.9M | $606.3M | $759.4M |
| Gross profit | $82.9M | $109.4M | $162.3M | $229.9M | $285.7M |
| Operating income | $52,000 | $2.1M | $33.3M | $63.6M | $88.4M |
| Net income | $2.4M | $1.3M | $25.6M | $53.4M | $66.3M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.06 | $0.03 | $0.59 | $1.18 | $1.44 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $145.0M | $166.0M | $162.2M | $184.8M | $198.9M | $213.6M | $187.2M | $166.0M |
| Net income | $7.4M | $10.6M | $16.9M | $16.6M | $16.4M | $16.3M | -$1.5M | -$31.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.16 | $0.23 | $0.37 | $0.36 | $0.36 | $0.35 | -$0.03 | -$0.72 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $17.7M | -$8.1M | $50.9M | $64.4M | $33.7M |
| Capital expenditure | -$16.7M | -$10.6M | -$11.5M | -$28.6M | -$82.0M |
| Free cash flow | $971,000 | -$18.7M | $39.4M | $35.8M | -$48.2M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | $2.8M | $675,000 | $988,000 | $14.1M | $6.4M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $21.2M
- Total assets
- $502.1M
- Total liabilities
- $218.4M
- Total debt
- $108.2M
- Net debt
- $87.0M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $283.7M
As of Jun 28, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 10,455,625
- Days to cover
- 9.11
- Change vs previous report
- +9.3%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.