Release Details

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Feb. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- J & J Snack Foods Corp. (Nasdaq: JJSF) today reported financial results for the first quarter ended December 27, 2025.

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section below for reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures.

“Our first quarter results reflect disciplined execution of our key priorities to drive profitability,” said Dan Fachner, J&J Snack Foods Chairman, President, and CEO. “We are pleased to deliver 7% year-over-year growth in adjusted EBITDA and a 200 basis point expansion in gross margin despite a 5.2% decline in sales and a $1 million expense for product disposal. Our results were enabled by our Project Apollo initiatives including strategic portfolio rationalization of lower margin products within our bakery business.”

“We remain optimistic about our trajectory and have several exciting commercial initiatives underway. The momentum in our pretzel business from the second half of fiscal 2025 continued in the first quarter. We have several innovative product launches that will reach customers in the second quarter, including Dippin’ Dots products for retail, as well as pretzel and frozen novelty products centered around better-for-you attributes. Project Apollo, our business transformation program, is progressing and we are on track to deliver the $20 million of annualized savings we outlined last quarter. Underscoring our confidence in the future and our focus on driving long-term value, we repurchased $42 million of stock during the first quarter and today are announcing a new $50 million repurchase authorization.”

First Quarter Results

Net sales decreased 5.2% from the prior year quarter to $343.8 million, with most of the decline attributable to our bakery business and strategic portfolio rationalization efforts.

• Food Service segment net sales decreased 8.3%
• Retail Supermarket segment net sales increased 2.6%
• Frozen Beverage segment net sales were approximately flat
  
  

Gross profit increased from $93.9 million in the prior year quarter to $96.0 million, while gross margin improved from 25.9% to 27.9%. The improvement in gross margin primarily reflects the early benefits of our Apollo transformation initiatives and favorable product mix, partially offset by $1.0 million in product disposal costs and approximately $0.6 million in tariff-related costs net of pricing offsets.

Total operating expenses of $95.4 million included $6.1 million in non-recurring plant closure costs as well as other non-recurring impacts.

• Selling and Marketing expenses increased 9.9% to $31.5 million, or 9.2% of sales, up from 7.9% in the prior year quarter. Approximately 140 basis points of the increase was associated with higher commissions for retail vending sales, which is a growing component of our Dippin’ Dots business. Investments to support our brands in preparation for our peak summer season accounted for approximately 250 basis points of the increase. Higher depreciation associated with customer equipment accounted for approximately 190 basis points of the increase, with almost half of that associated with growth in Dippin’ Dots.
• Distribution expenses decreased 3.9% to $38.1 million, or 11.1% of sales up from 10.9% in the prior year quarter, primarily reflecting lower volume.
• Administrative expenses increased 7.8% to $20.4 million, or 5.9% of sales, up from 5.2% in the prior year quarter. Approximately 300 basis points of the increase was attributed to non-recurring restructuring and legal expenses. 
  
  

Operating income was $0.6 million, compared to $6.2 million in the prior year quarter, while adjusted operating income was $8.0 million, compared to $8.2 million in the prior year quarter. Earnings per diluted share were $0.05, compared to $0.26 in the prior year quarter, while adjusted earnings per diluted share were $0.33, flat with the prior year quarter. The effective tax rate was 27.0%, compared to 27.2% in the prior year quarter.

Food Service Segment

• Net sales of $219.2 million, a year-over-year decrease of $19.7 million, or 8.3%. 
• Bakery was down approximately 17% and accounted for $18 million of the decline in Food Service, reflecting ongoing efforts to improve profitability through portfolio rationalization.
• Pretzel sales increased approximately 6.9%, continuing the growth momentum from the second half of fiscal 2025, with share gains driven by Bavarian formula pretzels.
• Handheld sales declined approximately 22% on lower volumes and a contractual pricing true-up on lower costs of certain ingredients.
• Operating income increased 14.6% to $10.1 million.
  
  

Retail Supermarket Segment

• Net sales of $45.9 million, a year-over-year increase of $1.2 million, or 2.6%.
• Handheld sales increased 35% as we lapped capacity constraints from the prior year facility fire.
• Sales within the remaining retail portfolio decreased $0.6 million, primarily driven by lower frozen novelty sales as growth in Dogsters and Dippin’ Dots at retail was more than offset by decreases in other frozen novelties.
• Operating income decreased 2.6% to $1.2 million.
  
  

Frozen Beverages Segment

• Net sales of $78.7 million were approximately flat with the prior year period.
• Beverage sales were up modestly, whereas service and machine sales combined were down modestly.
• Operating income decreased 13.7% to $4.0 million.
  
  

Share Repurchases

During the quarter, we repurchased approximately 458,467 shares of common stock for $42 million, completing our $50 million authorization. Including shares bought in fiscal 2025, we repurchased 525,243 shares for $50 million.

Our Board of Directors has approved a new $50 million share repurchase authorization that is effective for approximately two years. The new authorization reflects our confidence in the company’s long-term value, as well as our strong balance sheet and liquidity position. Our approach to share repurchases will be opportunistic, and the extent of our repurchases and the timing will depend on market conditions, regulatory requirements and other factors. We may repurchase shares in the open market, through private transactions, or otherwise, including through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans. The authorization is consistent with our capital deployment discipline and focus on driving shareholder returns.

Conference Call

J&J Snack Foods Corp. will host a conference call to discuss results and business outlook on February 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Conference call participants should register by clicking on this Registration Link to receive the dial-in number and a personal PIN, which are required to access the conference call. A live audio webcast of the conference call will also be available on the Investors homepage at investors.jjsnack.com.

About J & J Snack Foods Corp. 

J & J Snack Foods Corp. (Nasdaq: JJSF) is a leader and innovator in the snack food and frozen beverage industry. For over fifty years, the company has specialized in delicious snack and beverage brands for the foodservice and retail segments, serving up fun across the U.S. market. J & J Snack Foods’ core brands include SUPERPRETZEL, the #1 soft pretzel brand, ICEE and SLUSH PUPPIE frozen beverages, and Dippin’ Dots, the original beaded ice cream. The company’s broad brand portfolio also includes LUIGI’S Real Italian Ice, MINUTE MAID* frozen ices, WHOLE FRUIT frozen fruit bars, DOGSTERS ice cream style treats for dogs, ¡Hola! Churros, THE FUNNEL CAKE FACTORY funnel cakes and fries, and bakery brands including MARY B’S, DADDY RAY’S, COUNTRY HOME BAKERS, and HILL & VALLEY. For more information, please visit http://www.jjsnack.com. *MINUTE MAID is a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements regarding the Company’s expected future financial position, results of operations, revenue growth and profit levels, cash flows, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, capital expenditures, products, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, as well as statements that include words such as “anticipate,” “if,” “believe,” “plan,” “goals,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. This includes, without limitation, our statements, and expectations regarding any current or future recovery in our industry and the future impact of our operational efficiency projects. Such forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, and readers must recognize that actual results may differ materially from the expectations of management. We do not undertake a duty to update such forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include consumer spending, price competition, acceptance of new products, the pricing and availability of raw materials, transportation costs, changes in the competitive marketplace the uncertainty and ultimate economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or similar health outbreaks, and other risks identified in our annual report on Form 10-K, and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are outside of the Company’s control.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA consists of net earnings adjusted to exclude: income taxes (benefit); investment income; interest expense; depreciation and amortization; share-based compensation expense; net (gain) loss on sale or disposal of assets; impairment charges, restructuring costs, merger and acquisition costs, acquisition related inventory adjustments, strategic business transformation costs, integration costs, non-recurring legal fee expenses and gain on insurance proceeds received for damage to property, plant and equipment. Adjusted Operating Income consists of operating income adjusted to exclude: impairment charges, restructuring costs, merger and acquisition costs, acquisition related amortization expenses and inventory adjustments, strategic business transformation costs, integration costs, non-recurring legal fee expenses, and gain on insurance proceeds received for damage to property, plant and equipment. Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share consists of net earnings adjusted to exclude: impairment charges, restructuring costs, merger and acquisition costs, acquisition related amortization expenses and inventory adjustment, strategic business transformation costs, integration costs, non-recurring legal fee expenses, and gain on insurance proceeds received for damage to property, plant and equipment. For purposes of comparability, the income tax effect of pre-tax adjustments is determined using statutory tax rates. This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures; Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Operating Income, and Adjusted Earnings per Diluted Share. A "non-GAAP financial measure" is a numerical measure of a company's financial performance that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") in the statements of income, balance sheets, or statements of cash flow of the company. Pursuant to applicable reporting requirements, the company has provided reconciliations below of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. The non-GAAP financial measures presented within the Company's earnings release are not indicators of our financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to the applicable GAAP measure. These non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. In addition, in evaluating these non-GAAP measures, you should be aware that in the future we may incur income, expenses, gains and losses, similar to the adjustments in this press release. Our presentation of these non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or infrequent items. We compensate for these limitations by providing equal prominence to our GAAP results and using non-GAAP measures only as supplemental presentations. The non-GAAP measures presented are utilized by management to evaluate the Company's business performance and profitability by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our recurring core business operating results. The Company believes that these measures provide additional clarity for investors by excluding specific income, expenses, gains, and losses, in an effort to show comparable business operating results for the periods presented. Similarly, Management believes these adjusted measures are useful performance measures because certain items included in the calculations may either mask or exaggerate trends in the Company’s ongoing operating performance. See the reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures below.

Investor Contact:
Reed Anderson, ICR
(646) 277-1260
reed.anderson@icrinc.com

Source: J & J Snack Foods Corp.