Lifeway Foods

LWAY

Packaged Foods · Consumer Defensive

Price

$31.95

-0.14 (-0.44%)

Market Cap

$488.3M

Exchange

NASDAQ

Winston Score

Winston is curious

A decent business — some strong pillars, some weaker.

Share count falling — buybacks

−1.5% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 15.8M (2021) → 15.5M (2025)

Lifeway Foods, Inc. produces and markets probiotic-based products in the United States and internationally. Its primary product is drinkable kefir, a cultured dairy product in various organic and non-organic sizes, flavors, and types, including low fat, non-fat, whole milk, protein, and BioKefir. The company also offers European-style soft cheeses; cream and other products; ProBugs, a line of kefir products designed for children; cupped kefir and Icelandic Skyr, a line of strained kefir and yogu

Winston Score History

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+36.7% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Revenue accelerating

EPS Growth

+29.2% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Strong earnings growth

R&D Spend

$0/ year

0.0% of revenue

Below sector average (2%)

Research and development spending

Insider Activity

61.9%ownership

→ Flat

Insiders holding steady — not selling despite ability to

Cash Runway

~3 months

$6M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Revenue accelerating

Lifeway Foods grew revenue 37% year-over-year and the growth rate is speeding up. That's the kind of momentum growth investors look for — the question is whether margins can follow.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Gross Margin

27.5%

Modest — 27.5% gross margin

Operating Margin

10.0%

Modest — 10.0% operating margin

ROCE

6.5%

Weak — 6.5% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales YoY

+21.9%

Fast-growing sales (21.9% YoY)

EPS YoY

+43.6%

Earnings growing fast (43.6% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

EPS Consistency

8/8 quarters

Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Cash Conversion

103%

Turns 103% of profit into real cash

FCF Margin

-9.0%

Burning cash (-9.0%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

Debt / Equity

0.08

Conservative — low debt load (0.08)

Interest Cover

N/A

Data not available

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Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

32.3x

Pricey — P/E 32.3

P/E above the market average. People are paying up for expected growth.

P/E vs Forward

+14.1

GROWING

Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (32.3 → 18.2)

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.

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