US Foods Rebound From Pandemic Years Continues to Reward Investors

From Blocked Merger to Independent Operator

US Foods (NYSE: USFD) deed nationalist markets successful May 2016 aft the FTC blocked its projected merchantability to Sysco the anterior year. What started arsenic a fallback program turned into a decennary of building. The Rosemont, Illinois-based distributor present serves astir 250,000 lawsuit locations done much than 70 broadline organisation centers and implicit 90 cash-and-carry stores, with astir 30,000 associates handling astir $39.4 cardinal successful yearly sales.

The communicative since the IPO has 3 chapters. First, dependable stock gains with autarkic restaurants. Second, a brutal pandemic daze that crushed edifice volumes and the stock. Third, a crisp rebound nether CEO Dave Flitman, anchored by the CHEF'STORE acquisition successful 2020 and caller broadline tuck-ins similar Jake's Finer Foods successful Houston and Shetakis successful Las Vegas. Management is present exploring a merchantability of the CHEF'STORE cash-and-carry concern to absorption connected halfway distribution.

$1,000 Invested astatine IPO Is Now $3,690

In the pursuing table, concern day assumes the archetypal disposable trading terms aft IPO. The starting concern successful US Foods successful each play is $1,000.

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Roughly tripling your wealth implicit a decennary is solid, and it outperforms the S&P 500's tally implicit the aforesaid span. The signifier of the travel matters: shares cratered successful aboriginal 2020 arsenic restaurants closed, and diligent holders had to tummy years of choppy recovery. The existent outperformance occurred implicit the past 3 years, arsenic US Foods surged erstwhile margins yet inflected.

FY2025 cemented the turn: gross of $39.42 cardinal (+4.08%), nett income of $676 cardinal (+36.84%), and adjusted diluted EPS of $3.98. The institution pays nary dividend but announced a caller $1 cardinal buyback successful November 2025.

The Bull Case, With One Eye connected the Consumer

The bull lawsuit rests connected Flitman delivering his 20% adjusted EPS CAGR done 2027, and it is straightforward: 19 consecutive quarters of autarkic edifice growth, 2026 guidance calling for 18% to 24% adjusted EPS growth, and a guardant P/E astir 31 that looks tenable for that trajectory.