Grocery Outlet vs Sprouts Farmers Market

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Grocery Outlet and Sprouts Farmers Market side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Sprouts Farmers Market is the larger business, with $8.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $4.7B for Grocery Outlet, about 1.9 times as much.
Sprouts Farmers Market grew revenue faster (14.1%, against 7.3%).
Sprouts Farmers Market kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (7.8% operating margin, against −4.7%).
Sprouts Farmers Market turned more of its sales into free cash flow (5.3% FCF margin, against 0.5%).
Sprouts Farmers Market earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (46.9%, against −11.6%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Grocery Outlet

1/10

5-year growth

Sprouts Farmers Market

SFM

9/10

Revenue growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	GO FY25	SFM FY25
Size
Market cap	$1.3B	$6.2B
Revenue	$4.7B	$8.8B
Free cash flow	$23.8M	$468M
Net income	−$225M	$524M
Growth
Revenue growth	7.3%	14.1%
5-year growth	8.4%	6.4%
Share count change	−1.6%	−2.6%
Profitability
Gross margin	30.3%	38.8%
Operating margin	−4.7%	7.8%
Net margin	−4.8%	6.0%
FCF margin	0.5%	5.3%
Return on capital	−11.6%	46.9%
Return on equity	−20.6%	38.4%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$426M	−$244M
Net debt / EBITDA	—	−0.3x
Dividends and buybacks	$0.0M	$472M
Valuation & quality
P/E	—	12.6x
Piotroski F-score	5	7

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

GO —

SFM $4.0B

FY17

GO $2.1B

SFM $4.7B

FY18

GO $2.3B

SFM $5.2B

FY19

GO $2.6B

SFM $5.6B

FY20

GO $3.1B

SFM $6.5B

FY21

GO $3.1B

SFM $6.1B

FY22

GO $3.6B

SFM $6.4B

FY23

GO $4.0B

SFM $6.8B

FY24

GO $4.4B

SFM $7.7B

FY25

GO $4.7B

SFM $8.8B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GO SFM

Operating margin

FY16

GO —

SFM 5.3%

FY17

GO 3.7%

SFM 4.9%

FY18

GO 3.6%

SFM 4.3%

FY19

GO 2.7%

SFM 3.9%

FY20

GO 3.4%

SFM 6.1%

FY21

GO 2.9%

SFM 5.5%

FY22

GO 2.7%

SFM 5.6%

FY23

GO 3.2%

SFM 5.1%

FY24

GO 1.8%

SFM 6.5%

FY25

GO −4.7%

SFM 7.8%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GO SFM

Free cash flow

FY16

GO —

SFM $73.3M

FY17

GO $13.6M

SFM $111M

FY18

GO $41.1M

SFM $117M

FY19

GO $35.6M

SFM $172M

FY20

GO $56.3M

SFM $372M

FY21

GO $42.2M

SFM $262M

FY22

GO $55.0M

SFM $247M

FY23

GO $134M

SFM $240M

FY24

GO −$74.7M

SFM $415M

FY25

GO $23.8M

SFM $468M

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GO SFM

Return on capital

FY16

GO —

SFM 15.1%

FY17

GO —

SFM 18.4%

FY18

GO —

SFM 17.9%

FY19

GO 5.4%

SFM —

FY20

GO 8.7%

SFM —

FY21

GO 5.5%

SFM —

FY22

GO 6.0%

SFM 27.0%

FY23

GO 6.9%

SFM 25.2%

FY24

GO 3.7%

SFM 35.3%

FY25

GO −11.6%

SFM 46.9%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

GO SFM

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.