Why Investors Bailed From UniFirst Stock Today
Key Points
The workwear specialist posted top- and bottom-line drops in its final quarter of fiscal 2025.
Its organic revenue rose by almost 3%, however.
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It's safe to say UniFirst (NYSE: UNF) wasn't first in the minds of many market players Wednesday. The uniform and workwear specialist's share price took a nearly 5% hit on the day, following the company's release of fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results. Its stock decline was notably more pronounced than the 0.5% dip of the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).
Fundamentals declined, but still topped projections
The quarter saw UniFirst earned revenue of just over $614 million, which was down from nearly $640 million in the same period of fiscal 2024. Net income according to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) also slid over that stretch of time, landing at slightly more than $41 million ($2.23 per share) against the year-ago profit of $44.6 million.
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Despite weakening fundamentals, both figures topped the average analyst estimates. Collectively, prognosticators tracking UniFirst's fortunes were anticipating less than $608 million on the top line, and GAAP bottom-line profitability of $2.08 per share.
UniFirst said in its earnings release that its revenue decline was due to factors such as acquisitions and the impact of an extra week of business operations near the end of 2024. Had it not been for these, the company would have posted organic -- which excludes these and other items -- growth of almost 3%.
Guidance was an issue
Investors likely would have been pleased by the double beat; however, most of them tend to trade on future potential rather than trailing performance.
And that was the rub for UniFirst. For the entirety of its current fiscal year (2026), it's modeling revenue of nearly $2.48 billion to almost $2.5 billion, with earnings per share coming in at $6.58 to $6.98. However, both ranges are below the average analyst forecasts of nearly $2.51 billion and $8.69, respectively.
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Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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