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UTZ Brands (UTZ)
NYSE:UTZ
US Market
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UTZ Brands (UTZ) AI Stock Analysis

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UTZ

UTZ Brands

(NYSE:UTZ)

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Neutral 60 (OpenAI - 5.2)
Rating:60Neutral
Price Target:
$15.00
▲(5.26% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:08/05/26
Overall score is held back primarily by weak and volatile profitability despite strong revenue growth, improved leverage, and solid free cash flow. Technicals show a strong uptrend but are extremely overextended, increasing pullback risk. Guidance and the announced cash acquisition provide supportive near-term sentiment, while valuation remains constrained by negative earnings.
Positive Factors
Revenue and Distribution Growth
Strong top-line growth is reinforced by wider retail distribution and rising household penetration. These gains can support durable brand relevance, improve shelf presence and expand the company’s addressable consumer base over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
Weak and Volatile Profitability
The latest loss and margin compression indicate that revenue growth is not yet translating into dependable earnings. Persistently weaker profitability could constrain reinvestment, reduce returns on capital and make performance more sensitive to pricing and cost changes.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Revenue and Distribution Growth
Strong top-line growth is reinforced by wider retail distribution and rising household penetration. These gains can support durable brand relevance, improve shelf presence and expand the company’s addressable consumer base over the next several quarters.
Read all positive factors

UTZ Brands Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Any
Any
Revenue by Segment
Revenue by Segment
Breaks down revenue by different business segments, highlighting which areas are driving growth and profitability, and where there may be challenges or opportunities for expansion.
Chart InsightsBranded Salty Snacks are showing durable momentum—recovering after seasonal Q4/Q1 softness and trending upward—consistent with management’s stepped-up marketing, distribution gains and new-product rollouts (Boulder Canyon, Tallow, Utz Protein) that are boosting household penetration and California scaling. By contrast, Non‑branded/Non‑salty sales are drifting lower, implying a strategic tilt toward branded/premium growth; watch competitor mass promotions and packaging/resin inflation, which could pressure margins and obscure true volume trends via bonus‑bag tactics.
Data provided by:The Fly

UTZ Brands (UTZ) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)

UTZ Brands Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description
Utz Brands, Inc. operates as a leading producer and marketer within the snack food industry. The company provides a diverse selection of savory snacks, including various types of potato chips (such as kettle and tortilla varieties), pretzels, chee...
How the Company Makes Money
UTZ makes money primarily by selling packaged salty snack products to retailers and distributors at wholesale prices, with revenue recognized based on shipment/transfer of control under customer contracts. Its key revenue streams are (1) branded s...

UTZ Brands Earnings Call Summary

Earnings Call Date:May 06, 2026
(Q1-2026)
|
% Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Nov 05, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call reflects a constructive operational and strategic outlook: management reiterated full-year guidance, highlighted strong marketing investment, distribution gains (+7% TDPs), household penetration improvement (+~1 point), product innovation momentum (Boulder Canyon, Tallow, Utz Protein), and input-cost coverage/focused productivity (~4%). Challenges remain — near-term April softness, competitor promotional activity (particularly in mass), and packaging/resin inflation exposure — but executives described them as manageable with multiple mitigation levers (hedges, productivity, RGM, pricing actions). Overall, positive progress on growth initiatives and margin-protection actions outweigh the early-year noise and targeted competitive pressure.
Positive Updates
Marketing Investment Ramp
Marketing spend increased 35% year-over-year in Q1; company expects to increase marketing ~40% YoY for the full year and remains committed to a long-term target of 3%–4% of sales (likely a couple of years away). Management sees marketing as a key driver behind brand growth and expansion.
Negative Updates
April/2Q Softness and Seasonal Laps
Management called out softness in April driven by Easter timing shifts, year-over-year programming lapses (notably for Boulder Canyon and cheese business) and merchandising timing with larger customers; April was expected to be a tougher comparative month.
Read all updates
Q1-2026 Updates
Negative
Marketing Investment Ramp
Marketing spend increased 35% year-over-year in Q1; company expects to increase marketing ~40% YoY for the full year and remains committed to a long-term target of 3%–4% of sales (likely a couple of years away). Management sees marketing as a key driver behind brand growth and expansion.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management reiterated full‑year guidance unchanged, saying they remain on track for $60–$80 million of free cash flow in FY2026 and expect sequential improvement after the seasonally cash‑consumptive Q1; key metrics cited include a ~4% productivity program to offset inflation, Q1 marketing up 35% with marketing planned to increase roughly 40% year‑over‑year this year (long‑term target 3–4% of sales), household penetration +1 point, distribution (TDPs) +7%, California sales up high‑single‑digits, and the company is mostly covered for fuel, ags and freight for the year—while taking a conservative, flattish view of full‑year category growth despite early‑year retail category strength (>2%) and year‑to‑date share gains.

UTZ Brands Financial Statement Overview

Summary
Mixed fundamentals. Revenue growth is strong (TTM +35.2%) and leverage is much improved (debt-to-equity ~0.07), supported by solid cash generation (TTM operating cash flow ~$115.6M; free cash flow ~$51.1M). However, profitability is currently weak and volatile (TTM net income -$28.7M) with materially lower margins versus 2024, which weighs on returns (negative ROE).
Income Statement
47
Neutral
Balance Sheet
66
Positive
Cash Flow
63
Positive
BreakdownTTMDec 2025Dec 2024Dec 2023Dec 2022Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue1.45B1.44B1.41B1.44B1.41B1.18B
Gross Profit292.40M322.20M494.78M456.49M449.06M383.91M
EBITDA98.20M124.90M182.12M99.25M91.33M127.67M
Net Income-29.00M800.00K15.97M-24.94M-392.00K20.55M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets2.78B2.79B2.73B2.75B2.84B2.72B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments58.60M120.40M56.14M52.02M72.93M41.90M
Total Debt1.03B1.17B940.82M985.34M992.46M909.01M
Total Liabilities1.46B1.45B1.34B1.36B1.39B1.28B
Stockholders Equity695.90M713.70M702.45M669.50M703.15M679.71M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow51.10M9.40M7.53M20.92M-39.77M14.89M
Operating Cash Flow115.60M112.20M106.17M76.64M48.19M48.39M
Investing Cash Flow-45.10M-86.90M74.96M-48.49M-76.07M-136.10M
Financing Cash Flow-66.50M39.00M-177.01M-49.05M58.91M82.78M

UTZ Brands Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis Sentiment
Positive
Last Price14.25
Price Trends
50DMA
11.24
Positive
100DMA
9.32
Positive
200DMA
9.32
Positive
Market Momentum
MACD
0.73
Positive
RSI
79.00
Negative
STOCH
79.71
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For UTZ, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 14.25 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 14.15, above the 50-day MA of 11.24, and above the 200-day MA of 9.32, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 0.73 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 79.00 is Negative, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 79.71 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for UTZ.

UTZ Brands Risk Analysis

UTZ Brands disclosed 38 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. UTZ Brands reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks

UTZ Brands Peers Comparison

Overall Rating
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (62)
Financial Indicators
Name
Overall Rating
Market Cap
P/E Ratio
ROE
Dividend Yield
Revenue Growth
EPS Growth
68
Neutral
$1.66B33.565.40%4.19%-4.69%-39.51%
65
Neutral
$1.70B11.744.96%5.80%3.56%-31.26%
62
Neutral
$20.33B14.63-3.31%3.23%1.93%-12.26%
60
Neutral
$2.05B-43.32-4.08%1.77%1.95%-257.17%
46
Neutral
$1.52B26.854.13%11.21%2.46%-75.05%
41
Neutral
$932.37M-4.71-12.33%-4.48%-250.67%
* Consumer Defensive Sector Average
Performance Comparison
Ticker
Company Name
Price
Change
% Change
UTZ
UTZ Brands
14.20
1.16
8.93%
FLO
Flowers Foods
6.98
-6.73
-49.11%
JJSF
J & J Snack Foods
87.75
-19.92
-18.50%
SMPL
Simply Good Foods
10.21
-18.43
-64.35%
NOMD
Nomad Foods
11.99
-2.50
-17.26%

UTZ Brands Corporate Events

Business Operations and StrategyM&A TransactionsRegulatory Filings and Compliance
Utz Brands agrees to cash merger with Intersnack
Positive
Jul 22, 2026
On July 20, 2026, Utz Brands agreed to be acquired by Intersnack Group’s Idaho USA, Inc. via a cash merger in which public Class A shareholders will receive $14.25 per share, while Class V shares held by continuing stockholders are cancelled...
Business Operations and StrategyDelistings and Listing ChangesM&A TransactionsPrivate Placements and Financing
Intersnack to Acquire Utz Brands, Taking Company Private
Positive
Jul 21, 2026
On July 21, 2026, Utz Brands, Inc. and Germany’s Intersnack Group announced a definitive agreement under which Intersnack will acquire all outstanding Class A common shares of Utz for $14.25 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $2...
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board ChangesFinancial Disclosures
Utz Brands Reaffirms 2026 Outlook Amid Leadership Transition
Positive
May 28, 2026
On May 26, 2026, Utz Brands announced that Mitchell Arends, its EVP, Chief Integrated Supply Chain Officer and principal operating officer, had notified the company he would resign effective June 19, 2026 to take a role at another public company, ...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

Disclaimer

This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.Date of analysis: Aug 05, 2026