As the Q4 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the shelf-stable food industry, including Utz (NYSE: UTZ) and its peers.

As America industrialized and moved away from an agricultural economy, people faced more demands on their time. Packaged foods emerged as a solution offering convenience to the evolving American family, whether it be canned goods or snacks. Today, Americans seek brands that are high in quality, reliable, and reasonably priced. Furthermore, there's a growing emphasis on health-conscious and sustainable food options. Packaged food stocks are considered resilient investments. People always need to eat, so these companies can enjoy consistent demand as long as they stay on top of changing consumer preferences. The industry spans from multinational corporations to smaller specialized firms and is subject to food safety and labeling regulations.

The 21 shelf-stable food stocks we track reported a slower Q4. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.5% above.

While some shelf-stable food stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 3% since the latest earnings results.

Utz (NYSE: UTZ)

Tracing its roots back to 1921 when Bill and Salie Utz began making potato chips in their kitchen, Utz Brands (NYSE: UTZ) offers salty snacks such as potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, and ready-to-eat popcorn, among others.

Utz reported revenues of $341 million, down 3.1% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 2.2%, but it was still a satisfactory quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ gross margin estimates.

“In 2024, our Branded Salty Snacks delivered strong Organic Net Sales growth of nearly 4%, while we continued to carefully manage low-margin partner brands, private label, and non-salty snacks. We also met or exceeded our goals for volume share of the Salty Snack category which allowed us to partially offset the category softness as the year progressed. Finally, we exceeded our goals of Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Earnings Per Share, and Net Leverage,” said Howard Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of Utz.

The stock is up 7.1% since reporting and currently trades at $14.40.

Is now the time to buy Utz? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q4: Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ: LANC)

Known for its frozen garlic bread and Parkerhouse rolls, Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ: LANC) sells bread, dressing, and dips to the retail and food service channels.

Lancaster Colony reported revenues of $509.3 million, up 4.8% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

Lancaster Colony pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 5% since reporting. It currently trades at $174.83.

Is now the time to buy Lancaster Colony? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q4: Lamb Weston (NYSE: LW)

Best known for its Grown in Idaho brand, Lamb Weston (NYSE: LW) produces and distributes potato products such as frozen french fries and mashed potatoes.

Lamb Weston reported revenues of $1.60 billion, down 7.6% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 4.3%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year revenue guidance missing analysts’ expectations.

Lamb Weston delivered the weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 31.9% since the results and currently trades at $53.19.

Read our full analysis of Lamb Weston’s results here.

BellRing Brands (NYSE: BRBR)

Spun out of Post Holdings in 2019, Bellring Brands (NYSE: BRBR) offers protein shakes, nutrition bars, and other products under the PowerBar, Premier Protein, and Dymatize brands.

BellRing Brands reported revenues of $532.9 million, up 23.8% year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also logged an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ gross margin estimates.

BellRing Brands achieved the fastest revenue growth and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The stock is down 9% since reporting and currently trades at $71.14.

Read our full, actionable report on BellRing Brands here, it’s free.

Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ)

Founded as Nabisco in 1903, Mondelez (NASDAQ: MDLZ) is a packaged snacks powerhouse best known for its Oreo, Cadbury, Toblerone, Ritz, and Trident brands.

Mondelez reported revenues of $9.60 billion, up 3.1% year on year. This print met analysts’ expectations. More broadly, it was a softer quarter as it produced a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

The stock is up 15.4% since reporting and currently trades at $64.75.

Read our full, actionable report on Mondelez here, it’s free.

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