Simply Good Foods
SMPL on Nasdaq. Simply Good Foods sells protein bars, shakes, and snacks to people seeking low-carb or high-protein foods. Market value $879m.
Price checks use the past 12 months to May 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to August 2025.
Recent profit includes a big one-time charge, so we price the company excluding that charge.
Should I look at this?
Worth a closer look
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
Nothing big in our quick check. See what could go wrong below.
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $13.55 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 7.5 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 9 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 91 of 100. Price score: 100 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$9.96 a share, 6% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $9.38 to $25.66.
Pays no dividend
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $1.0bn | $1.2bn | $1.2bn | $1.3bn | $1.5bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 17.3% | 17.3% | 16.5% | 15.5% | 10.8% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.38 | 0.28 | 0.18 | 0.23 | 0.14 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.10bn | 0.10bn | 0.10bn | 0.10bn | 0.09bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)7 of 9
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.14× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsStrong, 12.2% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 12% fewer since 2021
The quarter to May 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $357 million last quarter, down 6% on a year ago.
- A loss of $52 million, after a profit of $41 million a year ago.
- It loses 17 cents on each $1 of sales, after keeping 15 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $119 million, down from $176 million.
- 12% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $273 million more than cash, up from $151 million a year ago.
- Sales did not grow on a year ago in any of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | $376m |
| November 2024 | $341m |
| February 2025 | $360m |
| May 2025 | $381m |
| August 2025 | $369m |
| November 2025 | $340m |
| February 2026 | $326m |
| May 2026 | $357m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| August 2024 | $29m |
| November 2024 | $38m |
| February 2025 | $37m |
| May 2025 | $41m |
| August 2025 | -$12m |
| November 2025 | $25m |
| February 2026 | -$160m |
| May 2026 | -$52m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 28 October 2025
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 8 October 2026
Who owns it
5 long-term investors we follow own it, down from 6 last quarter. 299 funds in all.
- LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok
- Value
- $27m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $27m | <0.1% | |
| Hotchkis & WileyHotchkis & Wiley team | $16m | <0.1% | Added |
| Oaktree Capital ManagementHoward Marks | $16m | 0.4% | Added |
| Royce & AssociatesChuck Royce | $3m | <0.1% | Added |
| GAMCO InvestorsMario Gabelli | $316,330 | <0.1% | Cut |
Sold out this quarter
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$181mAdded
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$73m
- Vanguard Capital Management$49m
- State Street$46mAdded
- Norges Bank$40mNew
- Geode Capital Management$37mAdded
- River Road Asset Management$34mCut
- Silvercrest Asset Management Group$34mAdded
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management$34mAdded
- Goldman Sachs Group$32mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
3 investors own more than 5%.
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor6.1%Since 31 March 2026
- FMR LLCPassive investorat least 3.0%−2.7 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 31 March 2026
- Wellington Management Group LLPPassive investorat least 1.9%−3.4 pts(filed with 2 related holders)Since 30 September 2025
- T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc.Passive investorSold down below 5%Since 30 June 2025
- The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 6.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
FMR LLC Passive investor | at least 3.0%−2.7 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 31 March 2026 | |
Wellington Management Group LLP Passive investor | at least 1.9%−3.4 pts (filed with 2 related holders) | 30 September 2025 | |
T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc. Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 30 June 2025 | |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 4 insiders bought $1m of shares on the open market. 1 sold $114,075.
- DALEY CLAYTON C JRDirectorBought
- Date
- 14 May 2026
- Shares
- 10,000
- Price
- $11.78
- Value
- $117,800
- KILTS JAMES MDirectorBought
- Date
- 23 April 2026
- Shares
- 80,000
- Price
- $12.39
- Value
- $991,200
- Clawson Michael LChief Commercial OfficerBought
- Date
- 17 November 2025
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $20.00
- Value
- $100,000
- Matthews Timothy AllenVP, Controller and CAOSold
- Date
- 11 November 2025
- Shares
- 5,859
- Price
- $19.47
- Value
- $114,075
- Bealer Christopher JChief Financial OfficerBought
- Date
- 6 November 2025
- Shares
- 9,946
- Price
- $20.01
- Value
- $199,019
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 May 2026 | DALEY CLAYTON C JR Director | Bought | 10,000 | $11.78 | $117,800 |
| 23 April 2026 | KILTS JAMES M Director | Bought | 80,000 | $12.39 | $991,200 |
| 17 November 2025 | Clawson Michael L Chief Commercial Officer | Bought | 5,000 | $20.00 | $100,000 |
| 11 November 2025 | Matthews Timothy Allen VP, Controller and CAO | Sold | 5,859 | $19.47 | $114,075 |
| 6 November 2025 | Bealer Christopher J Chief Financial Officer | Bought | 9,946 | $20.01 | $199,019 |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the serious warning signs we check for were found. 1 thing worth knowing.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 28 Oct 2025, plus the 10-Q filed 9 Jul 2026 and 7 later 8-Ks.
One big customer
Worth knowingOne customer brings in a big share of sales: 31% last year. Losing that customer would hurt.
“Sales to our largest retailer, Walmart Inc., represented approximately 31% of consolidated sales in fiscal year 2025, with approximately 24% through their mass retail channel and approximately 7% through their Sam’s Club and e-commerce channels.”
From the 10-K filed 28 October 2025, Item 1. Business. Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
What changed in the risks this year
Companies must list what could hurt them each year. These are the parts that changed since last year’s report.
We may be required to recognize impairment charges that could materially affect our financial results.
We assess our noncurrent assets, including trademarks, goodwill and other intangible assets, and other long-lived assets, as and when required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States to determine whether they are impaired and, if they are, we record appropriate impairment charges. We have recorded, and we may be required to record in the future, significant impairment charges and, if we do so, our net income could be materially adversely affected. Refer to Note 5, Goodwill and Intangibles, for additional information regarding the Company’s impairment assessments and related impairment charges recorded during fiscal year 2025.
Read moreIngredient and packaging costs are volatile and may rise significantly for a variety of reasons, many of which are outside our control, which may negatively affect the profitability of our business.
Could happenUnited States trade policies, including tariffs, and potential related actions by other countries are all outside of our control and may affect our financial condition or results of operations. Recently, the United States announced tariffs on imports from a broad range of countries, including the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and China, which we anticipate will cause inflationary pressures and higher costs on certain of our ingredients and packaging and imports from the affected countries during fiscal year 2026. If maintained, the announced tariffs, as well as related measures that could be taken by other countries and the potential escalation of trade disputes, are expected to affect our business and results of operations. The extent and duration of the tariffs and the resulting effect on general economic conditions and on our business as a result of increases in prices for ingredients and packaging we import or our suppliers and vendors purchase to produce these items that we acquire through our supply chain are uncertain and depend on various factors, such as negotiations between the United States and affected countries, the responses of other countries or regions, exemptions or exclusions that may be granted, availability and cost of alternative sources of supply, and demand for our products.
Read moreChanging consumer preferences, habits, perceptions of certain nutritional snacking products and discretionary spending may negatively affect our brand loyalty, purchase frequency rate and net sales, and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Could happenConflicting scientific information on what constitutes good nutrition, or the benefits of certain dietary approaches may also materially and adversely affect our business. Adverse public opinion, third-party studies, or other allegations, whether or not valid, regarding the perceived or potential negative health effects of processing of ingredients in our products, such as concerns about the use of nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners, seed oils, or other substances such as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals in our ingredients or materials, may contribute to actual or threatened legal action against us, negative consumer perception of our products, new or increased taxes on our products, or additional government regulation, any of which may be costly and reduce their appeal. Such risks may be increased if government officials make public statements about alleged risks purportedly associated with processing, particular ingredients used in our products, or unintentional contaminants that may be present in nature and are possibly measurable in trace amounts in our ingredients.
Read moreClimate Change, or legal, regulatory or market measures to address climate change, may negatively affect our business and operations.
Could happenThere is growing concern that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may have an adverse effect on global temperatures, weather patterns, and the frequency and severity of extreme weather and natural disasters. If such climate change has a negative effect on agricultural productivity, we may be subject to decreased availability or less favorable pricing for certain commodities that are necessary for our products, such as whey, cocoa and palm or other plant-based oils. Adverse weather conditions and natural disasters can reduce crop size and crop quality, which in turn could reduce our supplies of raw materials, lower recoveries of usable raw materials, increase the prices of our raw materials, or disrupt production schedules. The physical effects and transitional costs of climate change and the legal, regulatory or market initiatives to address climate change could have a negative effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Read more
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
It's near its lowest price in a year. The deep dive tells you if that's a bargain or a warning.
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.