One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$66.23 our estimate vs market $45.87
Wall Street consensus: $53.00 (-20.0% lower than our fair-value estimate)
31% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
United Natural Foods, Inc.
UNFI · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Food Distribution
Current price
$45.87
52-week range
$30.91 - $57.02
Market cap
$2.77B
Balance sheet
Stretched
2.44x Stretched
Net debt $3.00B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
2 Rewards
1 Risk
2 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
- Reward Trades at 34.2x P/E vs peer median 37.6x (8.9% cheaper).
- Risk Insider ownership is only 3.3% (peer median: 4.1%).
What this company does
United Natural Foods, Inc.
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) is like a giant grocery store supplier, sending a wide variety of food and non-food items to other stores across the US and Canada. Most of their money comes from selling these products in bulk, acting as a crucial link in the food supply chain (the system of getting products from farms to your table). This means their success is tied to how well other grocery stores are doing and how efficiently they can manage getting all those different products to them.
How the company got here
United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) started in 1976 as a small distributor of natural and organic foods. Over the decades, it grew significantly through a series of strategic acquisitions, expanding its reach and product offerings across the United States and Canada. A major turning point was its acquisition of Supervalu in 2018, which dramatically increased its scale and customer base, transforming it into one of the largest food wholesalers in North America. This expansion, however, also brought integration challenges and increased debt, shaping the company's subsequent focus on operational efficiency and financial health.
What it actually does
At its core, UNFI is a massive distributor of food and non-food products to a wide range of customers, primarily grocery stores. Think of them as the middleman that gets products from manufacturers and farmers onto the shelves of your local supermarket. They handle a vast array of items, including fresh produce, pantry staples, frozen goods, and even health and beauty products, ensuring that retailers have the inventory they need to serve shoppers.
Wholesale
This is UNFI's largest business segment, acting as a critical link between food producers and grocery retailers. They distribute a wide variety of products, from fresh produce and dairy to packaged goods and frozen foods, to thousands of grocery stores across North America. Retailers rely on UNFI for a consistent supply of diverse products, allowing them to stock their shelves and meet consumer demand. This segment is the backbone of the company, generating the majority of its revenue.
Retail
Through its retail segment, UNFI directly operates grocery stores, including well-known banners like Cub Foods and Shoppers. This part of the business gives UNFI a direct connection to the end consumer, allowing them to understand shopper preferences firsthand. While smaller than the wholesale operations, the retail segment provides valuable insights into consumer behavior and market trends, which can inform their broader distribution strategies. They manage everything from store operations to merchandising within these locations.
Manufacturing and Brands
Beyond distribution, UNFI also engages in manufacturing and offers its own private label brands. This includes producing natural and organic snack foods and processing nuts, seeds, and dried fruits under brands like Woodstock Farms Manufacturing. Having these own brands allows UNFI to offer unique products to its wholesale and retail customers, potentially capturing higher profit margins and differentiating itself in the market. These brands represent a smaller but important part of UNFI's overall business.
What management is betting on now
UNFI's current strategy centers on improving operational efficiency and profitability across its vast network. Management is focused on integrating its acquisitions smoothly, optimizing its supply chain to reduce costs, and enhancing its technology infrastructure. They are also investing in their private label brands and exploring ways to better serve their diverse customer base, from large chains to independent grocers. The goal is to strengthen UNFI's position as a leading food distributor while navigating a competitive and evolving retail landscape.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2025 Q1
$-159.00M
FY2025 Q2
$193.00M
FY2025 Q3
$119.00M
FY2025 Q4
$86.00M
FY2026 Q1
$-54.00M
FY2026 Q2
$243.00M
FY2026 Q3
$54.00M
FY2026 Q4
$80.00M
Revenue
$7.64B
Net income
$35.00M
Diluted EPS
0.57
Operating cash flow
$197.00M
Free cash flow
$80.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.72B
Net income
$33.00M
Diluted EPS
0.52
Operating cash flow
$98.00M
Free cash flow
$54.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.95B
Net income
$20.00M
Diluted EPS
0.31
Operating cash flow
$283.00M
Free cash flow
$243.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.84B
Net income
$-4.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.06
Operating cash flow
$-38.00M
Free cash flow
$-54.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.70B
Net income
$-87.00M
Diluted EPS
-1.43
Operating cash flow
$160.00M
Free cash flow
$86.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$8.06B
Net income
$-7.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.12
Operating cash flow
$173.00M
Free cash flow
$119.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$8.16B
Net income
$-3.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.05
Operating cash flow
$247.00M
Free cash flow
$193.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$7.87B
Net income
$-21.00M
Diluted EPS
-0.35
Operating cash flow
$-110.00M
Free cash flow
$-159.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $66.23 vs current price $45.87
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $53.00 (-20.0% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $66.23 a share — about 44.4% above today's price of $45.87, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Stretched
Net debt $3.0B. Interest coverage 2.4x.
Net debt
$3.00B
Interest coverage
2.44x
United Natural Foods, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 2.4 times over.
Stretched
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
UNFI
BASELINE
United Natural Foods, Inc.
Total debt $3.04B Interest coverage 2.44x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $7.78B Interest coverage 2.15x -12% vs UNFI Has roughly the same debt cushion as UNFI.
Total debt $5.41B Interest coverage 4.04x +66% vs UNFI Carries about 1.7x more debt cushion than UNFI.
Total debt $945.77M Interest coverage 3.68x +51% vs UNFI Carries about 1.5x more debt cushion than UNFI.
Total debt $900.76M Interest coverage 2.72x +12% vs UNFI Has roughly the same debt cushion as UNFI.
What you should know
The case for and against UNFI
2 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 9/10 years.
-
Trades at 34.2x P/E vs peer median 37.6x (8.9% cheaper).
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 3.3% (peer median: 4.1%).
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)
34.23x
Forward P/E
11.30x
P/B
1.71x
P/S
0.09x
EV/EBITDA
9.14x
PEG ratio
1.09x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
13.5%
Operating margin
1.0%
Net margin
0.3%
ROE
5.3%
ROA
2.8%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
1.87x
Current ratio
1.29x
Quick ratio
0.39x
Total debt
$3.04B
Total cash
$38.00M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$31.15B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
1.9%
EPS TTM
1.34
EPS 5Y CAGR
49.6%
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$540.00M
Free CF TTM
$323.00M
FCF margin
1.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
—