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Lifeway Foods

LWAY
54
Packaged Foods · Consumer Defensive
Exchange
NASDAQ
Winston Score
54
Winston is curious
Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Mixed
Growth
Good
Cash Flow
Good
Stability
Exceptional
Valuation
Good

Winston Score History

The full picture

Lifeway Foods makes and sells kefir, a drinkable fermented milk product similar to yogurt. The company is the largest kefir producer in the United States and sells its products under the Lifeway brand at grocery stores, supermarkets, and natural food retailers across the country. Its main customers are everyday consumers looking for probiotic dairy drinks and foods.

Lifeway earns money by selling packaged kefir products directly to retailers, who then sell them to shoppers. The company operates primarily in the United States, with some limited international sales, and generates roughly $200 million in annual revenue. Its competitive advantage comes from being the dominant name in a niche category — most Americans associate kefir almost entirely with the Lifeway brand. The key growth opportunity is expanding kefir's popularity beyond its core health-conscious consumer base, but the main risk is competition from large dairy companies and private-label products that could pressure pricing and shelf space.

Growth Profile

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

Revenue Growth

+24.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Steady revenue growth

EPS Growth

-96.4% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Earnings declining

Insider Activity

61.9%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Runway

~2 months

$7M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Lifeway Foods has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

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

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Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
19.5%
Thin — 19.5% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
0.9%
Thin — 0.9% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
14.7%
Good — 14.7% 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 growth
Sales YoY
+25.6%
Fast-growing sales (+25.6% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+1.5%
Flat earnings

Single-digit earnings growth — steady but not exciting.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
5/8 quarters
Mixed — about half the quarters showed growth

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
103%
Turns 103% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
-12.8%
Burning cash (-12.8%)

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

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
0.26
Conservative — low debt load (0.26)
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
83.22x
Comfortably covers interest (83.2x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
36.1x
no trend
Pricey — P/E 36.1

P/E over 35. The market is pricing in heavy, sustained growth.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+18.0
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (36.1 → 18.1)

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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