United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) stock rose Tuesday after the distributor topped Wall Street expectations on quarterly profit despite slightly softer sales.
Stronger performance in its natural channel, tighter costs, and improved cash flow helped underpin results as the company reaffirmed its longer-term outlook.
The company reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents, beating the analyst consensus estimate of 41 cents.
Also Read: Costco Sues Trump Administration Over ‘Unlawful’ Tariffs, Seeks Full Refund
Quarterly sales of $7.840 billion (down 0.4% year over year) missed the Street view of $7.911 billion.
Natural channel sales rose 10.5% to $4.24 billion, highlighting continued strength in that segment.
Conventional channel sales fell 11.7% to $3.33 billion, while Retail sales declined 5.5% to $554 million.
Eliminations improved to $(279) million from $(317) million.
Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was $167 million compared to $134 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
As of Nov. 1, 2025, the company had total liquidity of about $1.33 billion.
That included $38 million in cash and roughly $1.29 billion of unused capacity under its asset-based lending facility.
The company spent $16 million on capital projects in the first quarter of 2026, down from $49 million a year earlier.
Free cash flow used totaled $54 million, an improvement from the $159 million used in the first quarter of fiscal 2025.
Outlook
United Natural reaffirmed its fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS outlook at $1.50 to $2.30, versus the $2.03 analyst estimate.
The company also maintained its 2026 sales forecast at $31.6 billion to $32.0 billion, compared with the $31.953 billion consensus.
UNFI Price Action: United Natural Foods shares were up 10.68% at $38.03 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Read Next:
- Top 2 Financial Stocks That May Collapse This Quarter
Image via Shutterstock
Comments