United Natural Foods, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2025 Results

United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE:UNFI) (the "Company" or "UNFI") today reported financial results for the fourth quarter (13 weeks) and fiscal year (52 weeks) ended August 2, 2025.

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 Performance (comparisons to fourth quarter fiscal 2024)

• Net sales of $7.7 billion; growth of 1.6% on a comparable 13-week basis
• Net loss of $(87) million; Loss per diluted share (EPS) of $(1.43)
• Adjusted EBITDA⁽¹⁾ of $116 million
• Adjusted EPS⁽¹⁾ of $(0.11)
• Net cash provided by operating activities of $160 million; Free cash flow⁽¹⁾ of $86 million

Recent Financial and Operational Summary

• Key financial results in-line with or above midpoints of most recent outlook; significantly above initial outlook for net sales and free cash flow
• Delivered significant free cash flow improvement with fiscal 2025 free cash flow up $331 million compared to the prior year
• Net debt reached lowest level since 2018, decreasing to $1.83 billion. Net leverage⁽¹⁾ declined 0.7x from the end of the prior fiscal year to 3.3x
• Lean daily management deployed in 28 distribution centers during fiscal 2025; helping to improve customer and supplier experience and benefiting safety, quality, delivery and cost
• Fiscal 2026 guidance reflects underlying business momentum and continued strategy execution
  • Midpoint of fiscal 2026 Adjusted EBITDA range reflects an increase of about 20% from fiscal 2025 and an average annual growth rate of nearly 15% compared to fiscal 2024 on a 52-week comparable basis

"UNFI delivered a solid fourth quarter as we effectively navigated the cyber incident in collaboration with our customers and suppliers. In fiscal 2025, we continued to enhance our value proposition and delivered above-industry sales growth, while improving our effectiveness and efficiency. This drove higher free cash flow and further strengthened our financial position," said Sandy Douglas, UNFI's Chief Executive Officer.

"In fiscal 2026, we're focused on accelerating our momentum by building on UNFI's unique ability to provide innovative products, programs, services and well-scaled supply chain solutions that help our customers and suppliers grow profitably. We're increasingly confident in our strategy and our path forward to generate sustainable long-term growth and shareholder value."

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 Summary⁽²⁾ 

Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2025 Summary

Net sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 were $7.7 billion compared to $8.2 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, which included an approximate $582 million benefit from the additional week in fiscal 2024. Excluding this additional week, sales increased 1.6%.

Gross profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was $1,030 million compared to $1,116 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 included $15 million of costs associated with the previously disclosed cyber incident and a LIFO benefit of $7 million. The fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 included one additional week as well as a $12 million LIFO benefit. Excluding the costs associated with the cyber incident and the LIFO benefit, gross profit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was $1,038 million, or 13.5% of net sales, compared to $1,022 million, or 13.5% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 when excluding the LIFO benefit and the extra week.

Operating expenses in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 were $1,046 million, or 13.6% of net sales, compared to $1,075 million, or 13.2% of net sales, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The increase in operating expenses as a percent of net sales was driven by the deleveraging impact on fixed costs from the lost sales attributable to the cyber incident and the investment in servicing customers during this period.

Interest expense, net for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was $36 million and included $4 million in costs and charges related to a prepayment on the secured term loan, compared to $50 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, which included $10 million in costs and charges related to the refinancing of the secured term loan. The decrease in interest expense, excluding the prepayment and refinancing costs, was primarily driven by lower average outstanding debt balances and the additional week in the prior year quarter.

Effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was a benefit of 21.1% on a pre-tax loss compared to a benefit of 15.9% of pre-tax loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 includes charges related to the deductibility of charitable contributions resulting from changes to the tax code. The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 includes charges related to share-based compensation and the deductibility of charitable contributions.

Net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was $(87) million. Net loss for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 was $(37) million.

Net loss per diluted share was $(1.43) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 compared to net loss per diluted share of $(0.63) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Adjusted EPS was $(0.11) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, compared to Adjusted EPS of $0.01 in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 was $116 million, compared to $143 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

Capital Structure and Financing Overview

• Free Cash Flow – During the fourth quarter of 2025, free cash flow was $86 million, compared to $71 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. Free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2025 reflects net cash provided by operating activities of $160 million less payments for capital expenditures of $74 million.
• Net Leverage – Total outstanding debt, net of cash, was $1.83 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting a decrease of $230 million during fiscal 2025. The net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio was 3.3x as of August 2, 2025.
• Liquidity – As of August 2, 2025, total liquidity was approximately $1.50 billion, consisting of $44 million in cash, plus the unused capacity of approximately $1.45 billion under the Company's asset-based lending facility.

Fiscal 2026 Outlook ⁽¹⁾

The Company is providing the following outlook for fiscal 2026, a 52-week year.

Conference Call and Webcast

The Company's fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2025 conference call and audio webcast will be held today, Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. ET. A webcast of the conference call (and supplemental materials) will be available to the public, on a listen only basis, via the internet at the Investors section of the Company's website www.unfi.com. The call can also be accessed at (800) 715 - 9871 (conference ID 5462932). An online archive of the webcast (and supplemental materials) will be available for 120 days.

About United Natural Foods

UNFI is North America's premier grocery wholesaler delivering the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to more than 30,000 locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, eCommerce providers, and foodservice customers. UNFI also provides a broad range of value-added services and segmented marketing expertise, including proprietary technology, data, market insights, and shelf management to help customers and suppliers build their businesses and brands. UNFI is committed to building a food system that is better for all and is uniquely positioned to deliver great food, more choices, and fresh thinking to customers. To learn more about how UNFI is delivering value for its stakeholders, visit www.unfi.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding the Company's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties and are based on current expectations and management estimates; actual results may differ materially. The risks and uncertainties which could impact these statements are described in the Company's filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 3, 2024 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on October 1, 2024 and other filings the Company makes with the SEC, and include, but are not limited to, our dependence on principal customers; the relatively low margins of our business, which are sensitive to inflationary and deflationary pressures and intense competition, including as a result of the continuing consolidation of retailers and the growth of consumer choices for grocery and consumable purchases; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of our strategic initiatives; changes in relationships with our suppliers; our ability to develop, implement, operate and maintain, and rely on third parties to operate and maintain, reliable and secure technology systems, and the effectiveness of the Company's business continuity plans in response to an incident impacting the Company's technology systems, such as the unauthorized incident on its technology systems; labor and other workforce shortages and challenges; the addition or loss of significant customers or material changes to our relationships with these customers; our ability to realize anticipated benefits of strategic transactions; our ability to continue to grow sales, including of our higher margin natural and organic foods and non-food products; our ability to maintain sufficient volume in our Natural and Conventional businesses to support our operating infrastructure; our ability to access additional capital; increases in healthcare, pension and other costs under our single employer benefit plan and multiemployer benefit plans; the potential for additional asset impairment charges; our sensitivity to general economic conditions including inflation, tariff policy and changes in disposable income levels and consumer purchasing habits; our ability to timely and successfully deploy our warehouse management system throughout our distribution centers and our transportation management system across the Company and to achieve efficiencies and cost savings from these efforts; the potential for disruptions in our supply chain or our distribution capabilities from circumstances beyond our control, including due to lack of long-term contracts, severe weather, labor shortages or work stoppages or otherwise; the effect of adverse decisions in, or settlement of, litigation or other proceedings to which we are subject; moderated supplier promotional activity, including decreased forward buying opportunities; union-organizing activities that could cause labor relations difficulties and increased costs; changes in tax laws and regulations, and actions by federal, state and local taxing authorities related to the interpretation and application of such tax laws and regulations; our ability to maintain food quality and safety; and volatility in fuel costs. Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. The Company is not undertaking to update any information in the foregoing reports until the effective date of its future reports required by applicable laws. Any estimates of future results of operations are based on a number of assumptions, many of which are outside the Company's control and should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These estimates are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. The Company may from time to time update these publicly announced estimates, but it is not obligated to do so.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures: To supplement the financial information presented on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") basis, the Company has included in this press release the non-GAAP financial measures Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EPS, adjusted effective tax rate, free cash flow, net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio and Capital and cloud implementation expenditures. Adjusted EBITDA is a consolidated measure which the Company reconciles by adding Net (loss) income including noncontrolling interests, less Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests, plus Non-operating income and expenses, including Net periodic benefit income, excluding service cost, Interest expense, net and Other (income) expense, net, plus (Benefit) provision for income taxes and Depreciation and amortization all calculated in accordance with GAAP, plus adjustments for Share-based compensation, non-cash LIFO charge or benefit, Restructuring, acquisition and integration related expenses, Goodwill impairment charges, Loss (gain) on sale of assets and other asset charges, certain legal charges and gains, and certain other non-cash charges or other items, as determined by management. Adjusted EPS is a consolidated measure, which the Company reconciles by adding Net (loss) income attributable to UNFI plus the LIFO charge or benefit, Goodwill impairment benefits and charges, Restructuring, acquisition, and integration related expenses, gains and losses on sales of assets, certain legal charges and gains, surplus property depreciation and interest expense, losses on debt extinguishment, the impact of diluted shares when GAAP earnings is presented as a loss and non-GAAP earnings represent income, and the tax impact of adjustments and the adjusted effective tax rate, which tax impact is calculated using the adjusted effective tax rate, and certain other non-cash charges or items, as determined by management. The adjusted effective tax rate is calculated based on adjusted net income before tax and excludes the potential impact of changes to uncertain tax positions, valuation allowances, tax impacts related to the vesting of share-based compensation awards and discrete GAAP tax items which could impact the comparability of the operational effective tax rate. Free cash flow is defined as net cash provided by operating activities less payments for capital expenditures. Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio is defined as the total carrying value of the Company's outstanding short- and long-term debt and finance lease liabilities less net cash and cash equivalents, the sum of which is divided by the trailing four quarters Adjusted EBITDA. Capital and cloud implementation expenditures is defined as the sum of payments for capital expenditures and cloud technology implementation expenditures.

The reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their comparable GAAP financial measures and the calculation of net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage are presented in the tables appearing below, where practicable. The presentation of non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for any measure prepared in accordance with GAAP. The Company believes that presenting Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EPS aids in making period-to-period comparisons, assessing the performance of the Company's business and understanding the underlying operating performance and core business trends by excluding certain adjustments not expected to recur in the normal course of business or that are not meaningful indicators of actual and estimated operating performance. The Company believes that providing the adjusted effective tax rate gives investors a meaningful, consistent comparison of the Company's effective tax rate on ongoing operations. The inclusion of free cash flow assists investors in understanding the cash generating ability of the Company separate from cash generated by the sale of assets. Net debt to Adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio is a commonly used metric that assists investors in understanding and evaluating the Company's capital structure and changes to its capital structure over time. The Company believes that providing capital and cloud implementation expenditures provides investors with better visibility into the Company's total investment expenditures. The components of capital and cloud implementation expenditures for fiscal 2026 will be primarily dependent on the nature of certain contracts to be executed. The Company currently expects to continue to exclude the items listed above from non-GAAP financial measures. Management utilizes and plans to utilize these non-GAAP financial measures to compare the Company's operating performance during the 2026 fiscal year to the comparable periods in the 2025 fiscal year and to internally prepared projections. These non-GAAP financial measures may differ from similarly titled measures of other companies.

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INVESTOR CONTACTS:

Steve Bloomquist

Vice President, Investor Relations

952-828-4144 [email protected]

Kristyn Farahmand

Chief Strategy Officer

612-439-6625 [email protected]