Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.06, Zacks reports. Flowers Foods had a net margin of 3.78% and a return on equity of 16.35%.

Here are the key takeaways from Flowers Foods’ conference call:

• Finished 2025 at the high end of guidance with Q4 net sales up ~11%, materially aided by the Simple Mills acquisition (+4.7%) and an extra week (+7.8%).
• Dave’s Killer Bread (DKB) and other core brands drove share gains — specialty premium loaf +60 bps, DKB unit sales +3%, and share increases in breakfast and buns/rolls — supporting brand-led growth opportunities.
• Simple Mills integration is progressing well, contributing $57.5M in net sales and $6.3M in Adjusted EBITDA in Q4, with the company planning its largest innovation year for the brand in 2026.
• The company recorded a $136 million non‑cash impairment and reported GAAP diluted EPS of a $0.32 loss (adjusted EPS $0.22), while net debt/TTM adjusted EBITDA rose to ~3.3x, signalling elevated leverage and balance‑sheet risk.
• Management expects 2026 to be an investment and transition year with ~4% assumed category headwinds, one fewer week (~1.5% sales headwind), near‑term margin pressure from marketing/innovation and inflation, and guidance of net sales $5.163–$5.267B, adjusted EBITDA $465–$495M, and adjusted EPS $0.80–$0.90.

Flowers Foods Stock Down 2.9%

FLO stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Thursday, hitting $11.35. 7,168,982 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,071,870. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.33. Flowers Foods has a 1 year low of $9.93 and a 1 year high of $20.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.57.

Flowers Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a dividend of $0.2475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.7%. Flowers Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 107.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FLO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Flowers Foods in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Flowers Foods from $15.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Flowers Foods from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Insider Transactions at Flowers Foods

In other news, CEO Ryals Mcmullian sold 209,000 shares of Flowers Foods stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.87, for a total value of $2,271,830.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,022,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,113,270.60. This trade represents a 16.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 11.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flowers Foods

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,997,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,654,000 after buying an additional 276,670 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Flowers Foods by 6.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,245,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,727,000 after purchasing an additional 602,920 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Flowers Foods by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,619,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,025,000 after purchasing an additional 901,087 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Flowers Foods by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,440,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,004,000 after buying an additional 134,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Flowers Foods by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,935,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,827,000 after buying an additional 545,194 shares in the last quarter. 75.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flowers Foods Company Profile

Flowers Foods, Inc is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, offering a variety of fresh bread, buns, rolls, snack cakes and tortillas. Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, the company operates an extensive network of bakeries and distribution centers that serve retail grocery chains, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers Foods markets its products under well-known brands such as Nature’s Own, Wonder, Dave’s Killer Bread, Mrs.