One-glance verdict
Within fair range
$49.63 our estimate vs market $50.57
Wall Street consensus: $60.23 (21.4% higher than our fair-value estimate)
2% above our estimate
Fundamentals snapshot
McCormick & Company, Incorporated
MKC · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Current price
$50.57
52-week range
$44.82 - $72.41
Market cap
$13.60B
Balance sheet
Watch
5.57x Adequate
Net debt $4.60B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 8.0% last year.
- Reward Returns 24.7% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Risk Forward P/E (15.3x) is higher than trailing (8.4x) - earnings are expected to drop.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.7%).
What this company does
McCormick & Company, Incorporated
McCormick is the company behind the spices, seasonings, and hot sauces you see in grocery stores, including its own brand plus French's mustard and Frank's RedHot. The company makes money in two main ways: selling these items directly to shoppers for home cooking, and supplying bulk flavorings and ingredients to other large food manufacturers and restaurants. This matters because they sell small, everyday items to both regular people and big businesses, which can help keep sales steady even if people's eating habits change.
How the company got here
McCormick started in 1889 when 25-year-old Willoughby M. McCormick began selling products like root beer and flavoring extracts door-to-door from his Baltimore cellar. A key turning point was in 1896, when the company acquired a spice business, entering the industry it's now famous for. Over the years, McCormick grew by buying other well-known brands, such as Lawry's, French's Mustard, Frank's RedHot, and Cholula Hot Sauce, to become a global leader in flavor. This strategy of acquiring popular brands helped the company expand its reach from the East Coast of the U.S. to kitchens all over the world.
What it actually does
You've almost certainly seen McCormick's products at your local grocery store. The company makes, markets, and sells spices, seasoning mixes, condiments like mustard and hot sauce, and other flavorful products. Think of the red-capped McCormick spice jars in the baking aisle, French's mustard for your hot dogs, Frank's RedHot for your chicken wings, and Old Bay for your seafood. Beyond selling to consumers, McCormick also creates custom flavorings for other large food companies and restaurant chains.
Consumer
This is McCormick's largest business segment, making up more than half of its sales. It's focused on selling products directly to you, the everyday shopper. You'll find these items in grocery stores, warehouse clubs, and online, under familiar brand names like McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, and Lawry's. This part of the business profits by selling a high volume of branded spices, sauces, and seasoning packets that people use in their home cooking.
Flavor Solutions
This segment is the company's business-to-business (or B2B) operation, and it accounts for a little less than half of the company's revenue. Instead of selling to individual shoppers, Flavor Solutions creates and supplies seasoning blends, spices, and flavor systems to other large food manufacturers and restaurant chains. For example, a snack company might pay McCormick to develop a unique new chip flavor, or a restaurant chain might buy a custom sauce to use in its kitchens. This segment acts as a flavor development partner for other big players in the food industry.
What management is betting on now
McCormick's leadership is focused on growing through innovation and strategic acquisitions. The company is continually developing new products and flavors to meet changing consumer tastes. They are also placing a strong emphasis on sustainability (the practice of operating in a way that doesn't harm the environment or deplete natural resources), with goals to sustainably source its main ingredients and reduce its environmental impact. Management believes that by investing in its well-known brands and operating responsibly, it can continue to be a leader in the global flavor market.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$102.70M
FY2024 Q4
$183.80M
FY2025 Q1
$78.40M
FY2025 Q2
$-2.40M
FY2025 Q3
$206.10M
FY2025 Q4
$320.20M
FY2026 Q1
$18.40M
FY2026 Q2
$337.10M
Revenue
$1.94B
Net income
$150.10M
Diluted EPS
0.56
Operating cash flow
$379.80M
Free cash flow
$337.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.87B
Net income
$1.02B
Diluted EPS
3.77
Operating cash flow
$50.90M
Free cash flow
$18.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.85B
Net income
$226.60M
Diluted EPS
0.84
Operating cash flow
$542.00M
Free cash flow
$320.20M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.72B
Net income
$225.50M
Diluted EPS
0.84
Operating cash flow
$258.80M
Free cash flow
$206.10M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.66B
Net income
$175.00M
Diluted EPS
0.65
Operating cash flow
$45.90M
Free cash flow
$-2.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.61B
Net income
$162.30M
Diluted EPS
0.60
Operating cash flow
$115.50M
Free cash flow
$78.40M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.80B
Net income
$215.20M
Diluted EPS
0.79
Operating cash flow
$458.70M
Free cash flow
$183.80M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$1.68B
Net income
$223.10M
Diluted EPS
0.83
Operating cash flow
$161.70M
Free cash flow
$102.70M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $49.63 vs current price $50.57
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $60.23 (21.4% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $49.63 a share — about 1.9% away from today's price of $50.57, so the stock currently looks fairly priced.
Is it drowning in debt?
Watch
Net debt $4.6B. Interest coverage 5.6x.
Net debt
$4.60B
Interest coverage
5.57x
McCormick & Company, Incorporated's profit covers its interest bill about 5.6 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here.
Watch
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
MKC
BASELINE
McCormick & Company, Incorporated
Total debt $4.93B Interest coverage 5.57x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $19.00B Interest coverage 4.90x -12% vs MKC Has roughly the same debt cushion as MKC.
Total debt $13.94B Interest coverage 4.93x -11% vs MKC Has roughly the same debt cushion as MKC.
Total debt $6.94B Interest coverage 3.52x -37% vs MKC Carries about 1.6x less debt cushion than MKC.
Total debt $7.48B Interest coverage 3.23x -42% vs MKC Carries about 1.7x less debt cushion than MKC.
Total debt $6.28B Interest coverage 3.68x -34% vs MKC Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than MKC.
What you should know
The case for and against MKC
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 8.0% last year.
-
Returns 24.7% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 10/10 years.
Risks
-
Forward P/E (15.3x) is higher than trailing (8.4x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.7%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
8.41x
Forward P/E
15.33x
P/B
1.94x
P/S
1.84x
EV/EBITDA
12.80x
PEG ratio
1.95x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
38.9%
Operating margin
17.4%
Net margin
21.9%
ROE
24.7%
ROA
5.1%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.65x
Current ratio
0.78x
Quick ratio
0.29x
Total debt
$4.93B
Total cash
$331.20M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$7.39B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
2.0%
EPS TTM
6.01
EPS 5Y CAGR
5.2%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$1.23B
Free CF TTM
$740.40M
FCF margin
10.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
3.8%
Payout ratio
30.9%
Last ex-div date
2026-07-06