Shelf-Stable Food Stocks Q1 Teardown: Utz (NYSE:UTZ) Vs The Rest

As the Q1 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 17 shelf-stable food stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 11.6% below.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady. On average, they are relatively unchanged 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 $361.3 million, up 2.6% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, and overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

“I’m pleased with our solid start to the year, as we delivered 2.6% Net Sales growth and 5.2% Branded Salty Snacks growth, gained dollar share in the Salty Snacks category(2), and continued to expand Adjusted EBITDA margins,” said Howard Friedman, Chief Executive Officer of Utz.

Interestingly, the stock is up 7.3% since reporting and currently trades at $8.26.

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

Best Q1: Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

Best known for its milk chocolate bar and Hershey's Kisses, Hershey (NYSE:HSY) is an iconic company known for its chocolate products.

Hershey reported revenues of $3.10 billion, up 10.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA and organic revenue estimates.

Although it had a fine quarter compared to its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 3.7% since reporting. It currently trades at $182.15.

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

Weakest Q1: 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 $598.7 million, up 1.8% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.7%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year EBITDA guidance missing analysts’ expectations and a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 21.8% since the results and currently trades at $13.58.

Read our full analysis of BellRing Brands’s results here.

McCormick (NYSE:MKC)

The classic red Heinz ketchup bottle’s competitor, McCormick (NYSE:MKC) sells food-flavoring products like condiments, spices, and seasoning mixes.

McCormick reported revenues of $1.94 billion, up 16.7% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. It was a strong quarter as it also put up a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA and gross margin estimates.

McCormick achieved the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 8.4% since reporting and currently trades at $53.38.

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

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)

The result of a 2015 mega-merger between Kraft and Heinz, Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) is a packaged foods giant whose products span coffee to cheese to packaged meat.

Kraft Heinz reported revenues of $6.05 billion, flat year on year. This number surpassed analysts’ expectations by 2.5%. Zooming out, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also recorded an impressive beat of analysts’ gross margin estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ organic revenue estimates.

The stock is up 11.8% since reporting and currently trades at $25.19.

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

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 5 Quality Compounder Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.