United Natural Foods Inc
Q4 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
Did UNFI Beat Earnings? Q4 2026 Results
United Natural Foods delivered a stronger-than-expected bottom line in Q4 fiscal 2026, posting adjusted EPS of $0.69 against a consensus estimate of $0.62, a beat of 11.90%, even as revenue of $7.64 billion came in fractionally below the $7.68 billion Wall Street had anticipated and slipped 0.7% year over year. The headline profit swing was the more compelling story: UNFI recorded GAAP net income of $35 million, compared to a net loss of $87 million a year ago, with disciplined cost management and the lapping of a prior-year cybersecurity incident serving as the primary catalysts. Adjusted EBITDA surged 48.3% to $172 million, supported by gross margin expansion to 13.7% and operating expenses falling to 12.9% of sales from 13.6%. The Natural segment led the way, growing 6.6% to $4.26 billion, partially offsetting weakness in Conventional and Retail. Institutional investors have continued accumulating shares against this improving backdrop. Looking ahead, UNFI guided fiscal 2027 net sales of $31.2 to $31.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $3.00 to $3.50, expecting revenue growth as larger optimization headwinds are cycled.
- Network optimization actions driving gross profit rate improvement to 13.7% from 13.4%
- Cost saving initiatives and higher distribution center productivity reducing operating expenses to 12.9% of sales from 13.6%
- Lean daily management deployment across 44 distribution centers driving fourth consecutive quarter of YoY improvement in fill rates, on-time deliveries, and throughput
- Natural segment sales growth of 6.6% in Q4
- Lower interest expense from reduced average outstanding debt balances
- Lapping prior-year cybersecurity incident impact
“UNFI delivered a strong fiscal year through disciplined execution of our strategy to add value for customers and suppliers while becoming a more effective and efficient company. We continued strengthening commercial and supply chain capabilities to better serve our partners, while generating solid growth in Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow, enabling us to further reduce net debt.”
United Natural Foods CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
For fiscal 2027 (52 weeks ending July 31, 2027), UNFI guides: Net sales of $31.2-$31.8 billion; Net income of $105-$145 million; EPS of $1.70-$2.30; Adjusted EPS of $3.00-$3.50 (using 27% adjusted tax rate); Adjusted EBITDA of $730-$780 million (high single digit growth, midpoint $25 million higher than December 2025 Investor Day guidance); Capital and cloud implementation expenditures of ~$300 million; Free cash flow of $275-$325 million. The company expects to return to revenue growth in fiscal 2027 after cycling larger optimization actions and began onboarding additional business from new and existing customers.
UNFI YoY Financials
UNFI Revenue by Segment
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.