LWAY
Lifeway Foods, Inc.
LWAY's fundamentals are mixed, but it looks expensive: trading at 44x earnings, above its usual 30x. Analysts expect strong earnings growth.
LWAY Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Weak | |
| Healthy |
LWAY's revenue and balance sheet are currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow is weak.
LWAY PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 19x | $20.89 | — |
| Cheap | 22x | $10.43 | -50% |
| Fair | 29x | $14.11 | -32% |
| Expensive | 41x | $19.85 | -5% |
| Current | 44x | $20.89 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
LWAY's PE is in its expensive range at 44x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 19x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
LWAY Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for LWAY, with profitability holding steady.
LWAY Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $1.11 | +131% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.48 | -35% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.69 | -1.4% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.96 | +43% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.89 | +48% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.74 | -13% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.70 | -21% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.67 | -21% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.60 | -20% |
LWAY earned $0.48 per share over the past year, down 35% from the year before.
LWAY Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $67.8M | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $66.9M | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $63M | +37% |
| Q4 2025 | $55.4M | +18% |
| Q3 2025 | $57.1M | +24% |
| Q2 2025 | $53.9M | +9.7% |
| Q1 2025 | $46.1M | +3.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $46.9M | +12% |
LWAY's revenue has grown year over year every quarter since late 2020: $68M last quarter, up 19% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 1.6% | -7.2 points |
| Q2 2026 | 0.9% | -9.8 points |
| Q1 2026 | 10% | +6.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 6.8% | +5.3 points |
| Q3 2025 | 8.8% | -0.3 points |
| Q2 2025 | 11% | -0.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.4% | -4.6 points |
| Q4 2024 | 1.5% | -12 points |
LWAY's operating margin was 1.6% last quarter, down 7.2 points from the same quarter a year ago.
LWAY Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$2.4M | -142% |
| Q2 2026 | -$8.8M | -648% |
| Q1 2026 | -$6.7M | -$4.3M |
| Q4 2025 | -$17.4M | -$13.6M |
| Q3 2025 | $5.6M | -5.5% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.6M | -69% |
| Q1 2025 | -$2.4M | -$1.4M |
| Q4 2024 | -$3.8M | -207% |
LWAY has burned cash in six of the last eight quarters: −$35M over the past year, against $989,000 the year before.
LWAY Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.2% | -36K shares |
| 1 year | -1.1% | -169K shares |
| 3 years | +1% | +152K shares |
| 5 years | -2.5% | -398K shares |
| Available history | -3.5% | -551K shares |
LWAY has 15M diluted shares, down 1.1% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | $4.9M |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | $1.6M |
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q3 2020 | — |
LWAY Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q2 2026 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | -0.3x | Net Cash |
| Q3 2025 | -1.4x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2025 | -1.3x | Net Cash |
| Q1 2025 | -1.3x | Net Cash |
| Q4 2024 | -1.0x | Net Cash |
LWAY's net debt is less than a year of its operating earnings (EBITDA), after holding more cash than debt a year ago.
LWAY Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 37.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 13.4 | Oversold |
LWAY's weekly RSI is 38 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 13 (oversold).
LWAY PE vs Consumer Defensive Sector
| Metric | LWAY | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 44x | 19x | 123% above |
| PE % | 85 | 18 | 67 pts above |
LWAY is trading at 44x earnings, a 123% premium to the Consumer Defensive sector's median of 19x.
LWAY Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $21.9 | 4.6% below |
| 20 week MA | $25.7 | 19% below |
| 50 week MA | $24.3 | 14% below |
| 100 week MA | $24.5 | 15% below |
| 200 week MA | $18.9 | 11% above |
LWAY has fallen below most of its moving averages, though it's still 11% above its 200-week average.
LWAY Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $2.10 | $5.84 | +178% |
| 2021 | $5.84 | $4.89 | -16% |
| 2022 | $4.89 | $5.92 | +21% |
| 2023 | $5.92 | $13.4 | +127% |
| 2024 | $13.4 | $23.7 | +77% |
| 2025 | $23.7 | $23.8 | +0.3% |
| 2026 YTD | $23.8 | $20.9 | -12% |
LWAY has finished higher in five of the last six years, three of them by more than 50%. It's down 12% so far in 2026.