Utz Brands, Inc. (UTZ) · Nov 6, 2026 · Earnings

Utz earnings miss as inflation crushes margins ahead of buyout

Miss — Adj. EPS $0.10 vs ~$0.23 consensus; revenue $369.2M vs ~$384.6M consensus

Utz’s Q3 earnings missed expectations sharply as inflation and weaker volumes compressed margins, while its Intersnack take-private deal moves toward a November 13 vote.

Utz is a branded salty-snacks company in the final stretch of a planned Intersnack take-private, with the shareholder vote scheduled for November 13, 2026; that deal was already public, so this filing’s real new information is operating performance.

The quarter missed the market’s basic earnings bar by a wide margin. Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.10 versus a published consensus of roughly $0.23, while revenue was $369.2 million versus roughly $384.6 million expected. The miss was not just deal-related accounting: sales fell 2.3% as volume/mix declined 5.2%, and adjusted EBITDA fell 30.3% to $42.0 million.

Q3 2026Q3 2025Consensus
Net sales (Financial Highlights)$369.2M (-2.3%)$377.8M$384.6M
Adjusted EPS (Financial Highlights)$0.10 (-56.5%)$0.23~$0.23
Adjusted EBITDA (Financial Highlights)$42.0M (-30.3%)$60.3M
Adjusted EBITDA margin (Financial Highlights)11.4% (-460 bps)16.0%
Adjusted free cash flow (Cash Flow)$(15.5)M$27.8M

The core branded business was resilient on revenue, but not on volume or profitability. Branded salty-snacks sales rose only 0.3%, below the broader salty-snack category’s 1.1% retail-sales growth, while company retail volumes fell 3.3% against a 0.1% category increase. Pricing contributed 2.9%, but it did not offset weaker volumes and supply-chain inflation. 〔0〕

The biggest deterioration is margin conversion, not headline sales. Adjusted gross margin dropped 530 basis points to 27.2%, which management attributed to supply-chain cost inflation, channel mix and lower volumes. Adjusted SG&A was lower, but that savings was overwhelmed by the gross-margin pressure. 〔1〕

Cash generation also weakened materially while leverage remains elevated. Operating cash flow was negative $5.4 million for the first 39 weeks, adjusted free cash flow was negative $42.1 million, and net leverage stood at 3.9x. Cash fell to $70.1 million from $120.4 million at year-end, even as gross debt reached $885.5 million. These figures matter less to the public-equity story if the deal closes, but they show the business entering the transaction under pressure rather than demonstrating a clean recovery.

The take-private deal limits the forward operating read-through. Utz withdrew its 2026 outlook and will not hold a conference call because the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. 〔2〕 The buyout was already known; the fresh development is that the underlying quarter came in well below the prior operating trajectory and consensus expectations.

Bottom line: This is a clearly weak operating quarter: the branded business roughly held sales, but inflation and lost volume caused a sharp earnings, margin and cash-flow setback. The pending buyout makes the result less consequential for public-market valuation, not less negative for the business itself.

What to watch next

Stockholder vote on Intersnack transaction, November 13

Original filing on SEC EDGAR

More Utz Brands, Inc. news

Utz earnings miss as inflation crushes margins ahead of buyout | UTZ Stock News
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