Operations

US Foods boosts Q4 and FY 2021 sales and earnings

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February 21, 2022

US Foods Holding Corp. improved sales and earnings for Q4 and FY 2021, boosted by restaurant sales growth and double digit food inflation, according to an earnings report.

• Net sales increased 24.5% from $6.14 billion in Q4 2020 to $7.64 billion for the quarter ending Jan. 1, 2022. Total case volume increased 6.3% from the prior year and independent restaurant case volume increased 13% from the prior year. The increase in case volume was primarily driven by continued increases in leisure, business travel and restaurant traffic while net sales also benefited from food cost inflation of 14.4% over the prior year.
• Net income rose from a $10 million loss to a $69 million gain for the comparative quarters.
• Basic and diluted EPS rose from an 11-cent loss to a 26-cent gain, while adjusted diluted EPS was 38 cents.
• For the fiscal year, net sales increased 28.8% from $22.8 billion to $29.5 billion.
• Net income for the year improved from a $226 million loss to a $164 million gain, while basic EPS rose from a $1.15 loss to a 55-cent gain and diluted EPS rose from a $1.15 loss to a 54-cent gain.

Shares traded Friday at $38.43 against a 52-week range of $30.02-$42.10.

The $7.64 billion in quarterly revenue beat analyst expectations by $30 million and the non-GAAP EPS of 38 cents missed expectations by two cents, according to Seeking Alpha.

"2021 was a year of resilience and recovery. Thanks to the efforts of our associates, we stayed true to our promise to help our customers make it," CEO Pietro Satriano said in the press release. "In the face of continued industry wide supply chain and labor challenges, we increased adjusted EBITDA 63% by successfully growing volume and increasing market share with key customer types, delivered our highest gross profit per case since becoming a publicly traded company, and continued to improve operational efficiencies."

For fiscal 2022, the company expects adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billon-$1.3 billion and adjust diluted EPS of $1.95-$2.25.