Forensic Analysis · Consumer Staples / Food & Beverage · as of Jun 27, 2026
Utz Brands, Inc. (UTZ)
A forensic read on Utz Brands, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
D · Weak — demands caution
Forensic grade
Distress
Financial health
0.3
Altman Z-score
Clean
Earnings quality
4
Forensic signals
-1.2%
ROE
$1.1B
Market cap
3.63%
Dividend yield
Utz Brands, Inc. earns a D (Weak — demands caution) forensic quality grade, and its Altman Z-score is 0.3, placing it in the Distress zone. 4 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by return on invested capital.
What the filings flag
1%Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 1% and steady — well below its ~8% cost of capital, so reinvested dollars may be destroying value, not building it.
+2.7%/yrShare-count dilution.Diluted share count changed +8% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (+2.7%/yr). The count is GROWING — existing holders are being diluted. That's ~2.7% shaved off per-share growth every year — total profit has to grow that much just to keep earnings-per-share flat, and a stake held since FY2022 has been diluted ~8%.
1% of revStock-based comp load.Stock-based compensation ran 1% of revenue and 182% of free cash flow in FY2025 — about $0.19 per diluted share. Heavy — a large slice of 'free cash flow' is really being paid out in stock, so the true owner cash per share is well below the headline.
237% of FCFShareholder returns.Returned $22M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 237% of free cash flow, but 20% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow because the business is also funding heavy growth capex (usually debt-financed); the payout itself is covered by operating cash — sustainable as long as that spending is genuine expansion, not upkeep.
Key fundamentals
Net Margin0.1%
Debt / Equity1.19x
Free Cash Flow$9.4M
Latest Revenue$1.44B
Return on Equity0.1%
Revenue Growth YoY+2.1%
Go deeper — free with an account
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. An account adds the full interactive deep-dive on Utz Brands, Inc.:
🔒The written investment read — what the numbers mean, in plain English
🔒Ask anything about UTZ's filings — AI Q&A across the 10-K, 10-Qs & 8-Ks
🔒Interactive valuation — reverse-DCF sliders, Monte Carlo & scenario stress
🔒Calibrated 12-month price forecast, with the math shown