Sprouts Farmers Market vs United Natural Foods
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Sprouts Farmers Market and United Natural Foods side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- United Natural Foods is the larger business, with $31.2B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $8.8B for Sprouts Farmers Market, about 3.5 times as much.
- Sprouts Farmers Market grew revenue faster (14.1%, against −2.0%).
- Sprouts Farmers Market kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (7.8% operating margin, against 0.7%).
- Sprouts Farmers Market turned more of its sales into free cash flow (5.3% FCF margin, against 1.0%).
- Sprouts Farmers Market earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (46.9%, against 5.3%).
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Sprouts Farmers Market
SFM
11/11
Revenue growth5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
United Natural Foods
UNFI
0/11
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | SFM FY25 | UNFI FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $6.2B | $3.0B |
| Revenue | $8.8B | $31.2B |
| Free cash flow | $468M | $323M |
| Net income | $524M | $84.0M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 14.1% | −2.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.4% | 2.9% |
| Share count change | −2.6% | 4.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 38.8% | 13.5% |
| Operating margin | 7.8% | 0.7% |
| Net margin | 6.0% | 0.3% |
| FCF margin | 5.3% | 1.0% |
| Return on capital | 46.9% | 5.3% |
| Return on equity | 38.4% | 5.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$244M | $1.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.3x | 3.0x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $472M | $50.0M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 12.6x | — |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.