Hormel Foods vs Hershey
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The short version
- Hormel Foods is the larger business, with $12.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $11.7B for Hershey.
- Hershey grew revenue faster (4.4%, against 1.6%).
- Hershey kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (12.3% operating margin, against 5.9%).
- Hershey turned more of its sales into free cash flow (15.6% FCF margin, against 4.4%).
- Hershey earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.5%, against 5.1%).
| Latest fiscal year | HRL · FY25 | HSY · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $11.6B | — |
| Revenue | $12.1B | $11.7B |
| Free cash flow | $534M | $1.8B |
| Net income | $478M | $883M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| 5-year growth | 4.7% | 7.5% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | — |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 15.6% | 33.6% |
| Operating margin | 5.9% | 12.3% |
| Net margin | 4.0% | 7.6% |
| FCF margin | 4.4% | 15.6% |
| Return on capital | 5.1% | 11.5% |
| Return on equity | 6.0% | 18.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.2B | $4.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.2x | 2.3x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $633M | $1.1B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 33.4x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | — |
Revenue
FY16
HRL $9.5B
HSY $7.4B
FY17
HRL $9.2B
HSY $7.5B
FY18
HRL $9.5B
HSY $7.8B
FY19
HRL $9.5B
HSY $8.0B
FY20
HRL $9.6B
HSY $8.1B
FY21
HRL $11.4B
HSY $9.0B
FY22
HRL $12.5B
HSY $10.4B
FY23
HRL $12.1B
HSY $11.2B
FY24
HRL $11.9B
HSY $11.2B
FY25
HRL $12.1B
HSY $11.7B
HRL
HSY
Operating margin
FY16
HRL 13.9%
HSY 16.9%
FY17
HRL 13.9%
HSY 17.5%
FY18
HRL 12.4%
HSY 20.8%
FY19
HRL 12.6%
HSY 20.0%
FY20
HRL 11.5%
HSY 21.9%
FY21
HRL 9.9%
HSY 22.8%
FY22
HRL 10.5%
HSY 21.7%
FY23
HRL 8.9%
HSY 22.9%
FY24
HRL 9.0%
HSY 25.9%
FY25
HRL 5.9%
HSY 12.3%
HRL
HSY
Free cash flow
FY16
HRL $785M
HSY $744M
FY17
HRL $813M
HSY $992M
FY18
HRL $852M
HSY $1.3B
FY19
HRL $629M
HSY $1.4B
FY20
HRL $761M
HSY $1.3B
FY21
HRL $770M
HSY $1.6B
FY22
HRL $856M
HSY $1.8B
FY23
HRL $778M
HSY $1.6B
FY24
HRL $1.0B
HSY $1.9B
FY25
HRL $534M
HSY $1.8B
HRL
HSY
Return on capital
FY16
HRL —
HSY 24.8%
FY17
HRL —
HSY 25.6%
FY18
HRL 19.2%
HSY 30.5%
FY19
HRL 17.2%
HSY 24.2%
FY20
HRL 15.6%
HSY 26.7%
FY21
HRL 11.6%
HSY 25.5%
FY22
HRL 10.5%
HSY 25.7%
FY23
HRL 8.3%
HSY 27.2%
FY24
HRL 8.1%
HSY 29.6%
FY25
HRL 5.1%
HSY 11.5%
HRL
HSY
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.