US Foods Beats on Q3 Profit but Trims Full-Year Sales and EBITDA Outlook
USFD sits 48% above its 52-week low of $69.875 on elevated volume (2.2× avg).
Summary
US Foods delivered a strong quarter: net sales rose 2.1% to $10.4 billion, adjusted EBITDA climbed 9.9% to $555 million, and adjusted diluted EPS jumped 17.8% to $1.26, with independent restaurant case volume up 5.0% for a 22nd straight quarter of share gains. The company reported third-quarter EPS of $1.00 and net income of $218 million, with total case volume up 1.3%. The problem is the outlook. Management tightened FY2026 guidance, cutting the net sales growth range to 4%-5% from 4%-6% and adjusted EBITDA growth to 9%-11% from 9%-13%, citing a sustained slower macroeconomic environment and elevated fuel costs. The EPS range narrowed to 18%-20% from 18%-24%, so the top end of profit growth is now off the table. Cash generation remains solid at $1.16 billion operating cash flow through nine months, net leverage fell to 2.4x from 2.7x, and the company bought back $690 million of stock year-to-date, with $450 million left on the authorization. The Prime Line Distributors acquisition closed after quarter-end, adding specialty Italian products to the Pronto and broadline assortment. The 8 a.m. CST call will be where the trimmed top line gets defended.
At the time of this announcement, USFD was trading at $103.45 on NYSE in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $23.8B. The 52-week trading range was $69.88 to $111.69. This news item was assessed with neutral market sentiment and an importance score of 8 out of 10. Source: BusinessWire.