One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$-3.10 our estimate vs market $14.12
Wall Street consensus: $14.31 (-561.2% lower than our fair-value estimate)
555% below our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
Utz Brands, Inc.
UTZ · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Packaged Foods
Current price
$14.12
52-week range
$6.78 - $14.19
Market cap
$1.25B
Balance sheet
Distressed
0.25x Concerning
Net debt $964.60M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 0.6% last year.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
- Reward Dividend yield is 1.8% with 7-year payout history.
- Risk Return on equity was -1.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
What this company does
Utz Brands, Inc.
Utz Brands is a company that makes salty snacks you've likely seen in stores, like potato chips, pretzels, and tortilla chips under brand names including Utz and On The Border. It makes most of its money selling these popular snacks to grocery stores and other retailers, which matters because people often continue buying these familiar comfort foods even when the economy is slow. The company's success depends on keeping its costs low for things like potatoes and packaging, and efficiently managing its supply chain (the entire process of making the snacks and getting them to store shelves).
How the company got here
Utz started in 1921 when William and Salie Utz began making potato chips in their home in Hanover, Pennsylvania. For nearly a century, it grew as a family-owned business, becoming a familiar brand on the East Coast. A major turning point came in 2020, when Utz became a publicly-traded company, allowing anyone to buy a small piece of the company, known as a stock. To grow beyond its home region, Utz has been buying other snack companies, like Zapp's, Golden Flake, and On the Border, to add their popular products to its lineup and reach more customers across the country.
What it actually does
Utz makes a wide variety of salty snacks that you would find in a grocery store or vending machine. Think of things like potato chips in many different flavors, crunchy pretzels, tortilla chips for dipping, and cheesy snacks like cheese balls. They sell these snacks under many different brand names, so you might be eating an Utz product without even realizing it. The company's goal is to have a snack for every occasion, whether it's for a party, a lunchbox, or just a quick bite.
Power Brands
While Utz sells many types of snacks, it focuses heavily on what it calls its 'Power Four' brands, which make up the vast majority of its sales. This includes the classic Utz brand itself, known for its potato chips and pretzels. It also features On The Border, which sells tortilla chips and dips; Zapp's, famous for its uniquely flavored kettle-cooked potato chips with a New Orleans flair; and Boulder Canyon, which offers snacks often cooked in healthier oils. By having these distinct brands, the company can appeal to different tastes, from traditional snackers to those looking for bolder or more health-conscious options.
Other Branded Snacks
Beyond its main focus, Utz owns a collection of other well-known snack brands that are popular in specific regions of the country. This includes names like Golden Flake (a favorite in the South), Hawaiian (kettle chips with tropical flavors), and Bachman (another historic pretzel brand). These brands help Utz maintain a strong local presence and cater to the specific tastes of different communities. This part of the business is smaller than the 'Power Four' but is important for its heritage and regional strength.
Private Label and Partnerships
A smaller part of Utz's business involves making snacks for other companies. This is known as private label manufacturing, where Utz produces snacks that are then sold under a grocery store's own brand name. They also have partnerships to sell products for other companies through their extensive distribution network (the system of trucks and warehouses that gets snacks to stores). This part of the business helps keep their factories running efficiently and generates additional revenue (money earned from sales).
What management is betting on now
The company's leadership is focused on a few key strategies to grow the business. A major priority is expanding the reach of its 'Power Four' brands into parts of the country where they aren't as well-known, which they call 'Expansion Geographies'. They are also working on making their supply chain (the entire process of making and shipping snacks) more efficient to improve their margins (the portion of each dollar of sales the company keeps as profit). Finally, they are continuing to innovate with new flavors and snack types to keep up with changing consumer tastes and encourage people to buy their products more often.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Loading price history…
Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q2
$-15.26M
FY2024 Q3
$29.03M
FY2024 Q4
$16.45M
FY2025 Q1
$-59.01M
FY2025 Q2
$-10.59M
FY2025 Q3
$27.70M
FY2025 Q4
$51.30M
FY2026 Q1
$-26.00M
Revenue
$361.30M
Net income
$-1.70M
Diluted EPS
-0.02
Operating cash flow
$-12.20M
Free cash flow
$-26.00M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$342.22M
Net income
$-2.50M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$64.90M
Free cash flow
$51.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$377.80M
Net income
$-14.70M
Diluted EPS
-0.17
Operating cash flow
$51.20M
Free cash flow
$27.70M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$366.70M
Net income
$10.50M
Diluted EPS
0.12
Operating cash flow
$16.32M
Free cash flow
$-10.59M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$352.08M
Net income
$7.50M
Diluted EPS
0.09
Operating cash flow
$-20.22M
Free cash flow
$-59.01M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$341.05M
Net income
$2.31M
Diluted EPS
0.04
Operating cash flow
$54.21M
Free cash flow
$16.45M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$365.52M
Net income
$-2.20M
Diluted EPS
-0.03
Operating cash flow
$52.12M
Free cash flow
$29.03M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$356.19M
Net income
$19.85M
Diluted EPS
0.23
Operating cash flow
$8.90M
Free cash flow
$-15.26M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $-3.10 vs current price $14.12
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $14.31 (-561.2% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $-3.10 a share — about 122.0% below today's price of $14.12, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $964.6M. Interest coverage 0.2x.
Net debt
$964.60M
Interest coverage
0.25x
Utz Brands, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 0.2 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
UTZ
BASELINE
Utz Brands, Inc.
Total debt $1.04B Interest coverage 0.25x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $192.53M Interest coverage 67.00x +27,026% vs UTZ Carries about 271.3x more debt cushion than UTZ.
Total debt $1.47B Interest coverage 4.25x +1,622% vs UTZ Carries about 17.2x more debt cushion than UTZ.
Total debt $1.22B Interest coverage 5.23x +2,015% vs UTZ Carries about 21.2x more debt cushion than UTZ.
Total debt $448.46M Interest coverage 9.40x +3,707% vs UTZ Carries about 38.1x more debt cushion than UTZ.
Total debt $103.50M Interest coverage 23.33x +9,345% vs UTZ Carries about 94.4x more debt cushion than UTZ.
What you should know
The case for and against UTZ
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 0.6% last year.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
-
Dividend yield is 1.8% with 7-year payout history.
Risks
-
Return on equity was -1.2% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
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)
—
Forward P/E
16.90x
P/B
1.76x
P/S
0.86x
EV/EBITDA
29.01x
PEG ratio
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Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
25.4%
Operating margin
1.8%
Net margin
-0.6%
ROE
-1.2%
ROA
0.3%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.78x
Current ratio
1.14x
Quick ratio
0.59x
Total debt
$1.04B
Total cash
$73.70M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$1.45B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
5.1%
EPS TTM
-0.10
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$120.22M
Free CF TTM
$9.40M
FCF margin
0.6%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.8%
Payout ratio
2,460.0%
Last ex-div date
2026-06-22