Chefs’ Warehouse Inc. (NASDAQ:CHEF) delivered stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter 2025 results, posting adjusted earnings per share of $0.68, $0.06 above consensus estimates. Revenue climbed 10.5% year over year to $1.14 billion, surpassing analysts’ projections of $1.1 billion.
Even so, the stock edged down 1.33% in pre-market trading as investors digested the company’s guidance for 2026.
The specialty food distributor reported quarterly net sales of $1.14 billion, up from $1.03 billion a year earlier. Growth was driven primarily by a 9.7% increase in organic sales, with acquisitions contributing an additional 0.8%.
“Business activity and demand remained consistently strong through the fourth quarter amidst a healthy environment for our core upscale-casual to higher-end dining customer base,” said Christopher Pappas, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Company. “During the quarter, we continued growing market share, closing the year with strong year-over-year organic volume growth, unique item placements and new customer acquisition.”
Adjusted EBITDA rose to $80.3 million, compared with $68.2 million in the same period of 2024. Within the specialty category, organic case volume increased about 3.3%, while unique customer growth and placement gains reached 1.2% and 4.2%, respectively.
Looking ahead, Chefs’ Warehouse forecast fiscal 2026 revenue of $4.35 billion to $4.45 billion, broadly aligned with the $4.4 billion analysts expect. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in a range of $276 million to $286 million.
Gross profit advanced 10.2% to $276.6 million, though gross margin slipped 8 basis points to 24.2%. Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 8.9% to $225.2 million, but improved slightly as a share of net sales, declining to 19.7% from 20.0% in the prior-year quarter.