Lifeway Foods, Inc.
LWAY Nasdaq Dairy Products Financials FY2016βFY2025
What Lifeway Foods, Inc. does
No business description yet.
- Legal name
- Lifeway Foods, Inc.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 31, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K Β· Mar 17, 2026
- Accession Β· CIK
- 0001683168-26-001886
0000814586
Revenue and margins
Lifeway Foods, Inc. had $212M of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 13.7% on the year before.
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew 16.8% a year. Loss periods are shown in red.
Returns on capital
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Cash flow
Free cash flow was β$16.4M in fiscal 2025, β7.7% of revenue. Cash from operations minus capital spending.
Dividends, buybacks and share count
Lifeway Foods, Inc. returned β to shareholders in fiscal 2025. The diluted share count rose 2.7%.
Balance sheet
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Lifeway Foods, Inc. can carry it.
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $9.2M | $4.4M | $13.2M | $16.7M | $5.6M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $4.5M | $3.8M | $2.8M | β | β |
| Net debt / EBITDA | β0.5x | β0.1x | β0.5x | β | β |
| Debt / equity | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.0x | β | β |
| Interest coverage | 50.7x | 8.8x | 44.3x | 131.9x | 210.0x |
| Current ratio | 2.4x | 2.1x | 2.3x | 2.8x | 2.2x |
| Quick ratio | 1.7x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 2.3x | 1.5x |
| Total assets | $70.9M | $69.0M | $81.7M | $90.5M | $106M |
| Total liabilities | $21.7M | $21.4M | $21.2M | $18.6M | $19.8M |
| Shareholders' equity | $49.1M | $47.6M | $60.4M | $71.9M | $85.8M |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | β$4.7M | β$0.7M | β$10.4M | β | β |
Insider trades
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. 'Plan' marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Of sales under plans
β
$0.0M
No open-market insider trades in the last 12 months.
Piotroski F-score
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
| Test | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
| F-score | β / 3 | 4 / 9 | 3 / 8 | 5 / 8 | 8 / 8 | 4 / 9 | 6 / 9 | 8 / 9 | 5 / 8 | 4 / 8 |
| Accruals ratio | β2.5% | β6.4% | β9.1% | β5.9% | β5.3% | β3.4% | β4.4% | β7.4% | β4.6% | 3.0% |
| Altman Z'' | 7.97 | 6.35 | 6.72 | 6.88 | 8.30 | 6.96 | 6.46 | 8.75 | 9.81 | 9.59 |
10 years of figures
US$ millions unless stated. Hover a ratio's name for its definition.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $124M | $119M | $103M | $93.7M | $102M | $119M | $142M | $160M | $187M | $212M |
| Gross profit | $35.0M | $30.7M | $25.9M | $22.1M | $26.9M | $28.7M | $26.8M | $42.4M | $48.6M | $58.2M |
| Operating income | $6.1M | β$0.5M | β$3.1M | β$1.9M | $4.9M | $5.9M | $2.3M | $17.0M | $13.9M | $16.2M |
| Interest expense | $0.2M | $0.2M | $0.3M | $0.2M | $0.1M | $0.1M | $0.3M | $0.4M | $0.1M | $0.1M |
| Pretax income | $5.6M | β$0.8M | β$3.3M | $1.2M | $4.8M | $5.6M | $1.8M | $16.6M | $14.0M | $19.7M |
| Income tax | $2.2M | β$0.5M | β$0.2M | $0.8M | $1.6M | $2.3M | $0.9M | $5.3M | $4.9M | $5.8M |
| Net income | $3.5M | β$0.3M | β$3.1M | $0.5M | $3.2M | $3.3M | $0.9M | $11.4M | $9.0M | $13.9M |
| Diluted EPS | $0.22 | β$0.02 | β$0.19 | $0.03 | $0.21 | $0.21 | $0.06 | $0.75 | $0.60 | $0.89 |
| Diluted shares | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B | 0.02B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $5.1M | $3.8M | $2.4M | $3.8M | $6.4M | $5.6M | $4.0M | $16.9M | $13.0M | $10.9M |
| Capital expenditure | $3.2M | $5.3M | $2.8M | $1.2M | $1.9M | $1.9M | $3.4M | $4.4M | $6.7M | $27.4M |
| Free cash flow | $1.9M | β$1.5M | β$0.4M | $2.6M | $4.5M | $3.6M | $0.5M | $12.6M | $6.3M | β$16.4M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $3.0M | $3.1M | $3.5M | $3.3M | $3.2M | $2.9M | $3.0M | $3.2M | $3.4M | $4.0M |
| Stock-based compensation | $0.3M | $0.6M | $0.8M | $0.8M | $0.4M | $1.1M | $1.1M | $1.5M | $2.4M | $1.9M |
| Acquisitions | β | β | β | β | $0.0M | $5.2M | $0.6M | $0.0M | β | β |
| Share buybacks | $0.7M | $1.5M | $1.4M | $0.5M | $0.4M | $1.6M | $4.0M | $0.0M | β | β |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0.7M | $1.5M | $1.4M | $0.5M | $0.4M | $1.6M | $4.0M | $0.0M | β | β |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $8.8M | $5.0M | $3.0M | $3.8M | $7.9M | $9.2M | $4.4M | $13.2M | $16.7M | $5.6M |
| Total debt | $7.1M | $6.3M | β | β | $0.0M | $4.5M | $3.8M | $2.8M | β | β |
| Current assets | $27.5M | $24.7M | $18.9M | $19.2M | $24.1M | $29.0M | $27.0M | $38.2M | $43.6M | $37.1M |
| Current liabilities | $9.4M | $13.2M | $7.5M | $9.5M | $8.4M | $12.1M | $13.0M | $16.6M | $15.5M | $16.6M |
| Inventory | $8.0M | $7.7M | $5.8M | $6.4M | $6.9M | $8.3M | $9.6M | $9.1M | $8.7M | $11.9M |
| Property and equipment, net | $21.8M | $24.6M | $24.6M | $22.3M | $21.0M | $20.1M | $20.9M | $22.8M | $26.9M | $48.3M |
| Goodwill | $10.4M | $10.4M | $9.1M | $9.1M | $12.9M | $11.7M | $11.7M | $11.7M | $11.7M | $11.7M |
| Intangible assets | $1.6M | $1.0M | $0.3M | $0.2M | $0.0M | $8.0M | $7.4M | $6.9M | $6.4M | $5.8M |
| Total assets | $65.2M | $64.5M | $56.8M | $57.0M | $61.2M | $70.9M | $69.0M | $81.7M | $90.5M | $106M |
| Total liabilities | $16.9M | $17.9M | $14.4M | $13.7M | $14.4M | $21.7M | $21.4M | $21.2M | $18.6M | $19.8M |
| Preferred stock | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Shareholders' equity | $48.4M | $46.6M | $42.4M | $43.3M | $46.9M | $49.1M | $47.6M | $60.4M | $71.9M | $85.8M |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | 28.3% | 25.8% | 25.0% | 23.6% | 26.4% | 24.1% | 18.9% | 26.5% | 26.0% | 27.4% |
| Operating margin | 4.9% | β0.4% | β3.0% | β2.1% | 4.8% | 4.9% | 1.7% | 10.6% | 7.4% | 7.6% |
| EBITDA margin | 7.3% | 2.2% | 0.4% | 1.5% | 8.0% | 7.4% | 3.8% | 12.6% | 9.2% | 9.5% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | β0.3% | β3.0% | 0.5% | 3.2% | 2.8% | 0.7% | 7.1% | 4.8% | 6.5% |
| FCF margin | 1.5% | β1.3% | β0.4% | 2.8% | 4.4% | 3.1% | 0.4% | 7.9% | 3.4% | β7.7% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 8.5% | β0.9% | β | β | 8.5% | 8.6% | 3.3% | 23.2% | β | β |
| Return on capital employed | 10.9% | β1.0% | β6.3% | β4.1% | 9.3% | 10.0% | 4.2% | 26.1% | 18.5% | 18.2% |
| Return on equity | 7.2% | β0.7% | β6.9% | 1.1% | 7.2% | 6.9% | 1.9% | 21.0% | 13.6% | 17.6% |
| Return on assets | 5.3% | β0.5% | β5.1% | 0.8% | 5.5% | 5.0% | 1.3% | 15.1% | 10.5% | 14.1% |
| Return on tangible equity | 9.6% | β1.0% | β9.4% | 1.3% | 9.5% | 11.2% | 3.3% | 27.2% | 16.8% | 20.3% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | β | β4.0% | β13.1% | β9.4% | 8.9% | 16.7% | 18.9% | 13.1% | 16.7% | 13.7% |
| Net income growth | β | β109.9% | β | β | 613.5% | 2.4% | β72.1% | 1,130.2% | β20.6% | 53.6% |
| EPS growth | β | β109.1% | β | β | 600.0% | 0.0% | β71.4% | 1,150.0% | β20.0% | 48.3% |
| FCF growth | β | β182.1% | β | β | 70.5% | β18.9% | β85.2% | 2,240.1% | β50.2% | β362.0% |
| Share count change | β | β0.3% | 1.3% | β3.2% | β0.2% | 0.0% | β0.3% | β3.9% | 0.2% | 2.7% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | β0.2x | 0.5x | β | β | β1.0x | β0.5x | β0.1x | β0.5x | β | β |
| Debt / equity | 0.1x | 0.1x | β | β | 0.0x | 0.1x | 0.1x | 0.0x | β | β |
| Interest coverage | 27.7x | β2.2x | β11.5x | β7.8x | 41.7x | 50.7x | 8.8x | 44.3x | 131.9x | 210.0x |
| Current ratio | 2.9x | 1.9x | 2.5x | 2.0x | 2.8x | 2.4x | 2.1x | 2.3x | 2.8x | 2.2x |
| Quick ratio | 2.1x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 1.3x | 2.0x | 1.7x | 1.3x | 1.8x | 2.3x | 1.5x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 2.6% | 4.5% | 2.7% | 1.3% | 1.9% | 1.6% | 2.4% | 2.7% | 3.6% | 12.9% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.3% | 0.9% |
| Payouts / FCF | 39.5% | β | β | 20.4% | 9.0% | 43.5% | 742.9% | 0.0% | β | β |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | β | 4.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 8.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 8.3 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 8.8 | 9.8 | 9.6 |
| Accruals ratio | β2.5% | β6.4% | β9.1% | β5.9% | β5.3% | β3.4% | β4.4% | β7.4% | β4.6% | 3.0% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000814586). Data updated October 24, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.