SFM · Consumer staples(retail-grocery stores) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-28
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Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. reported revenue of $8.8 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 9.0% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin widened from 5.3% in 2017 to 7.8%. Of the $4.3 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 52.1% went to buybacks and 42.0% back into the business; the share count fell 34.0%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 1.99 is in the grey zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20258.8B+9.0% a year over 9 years
Operating margin7.8%gross margin 38.8%
Return on invested capital—20.8% on average over 3 years
Free cash flow after stock pay436.6M5.0% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA—net debt —
Piotroski F-score6/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
02.5B5.0B7.5B10.0B
2017Revenue 4.0BOperating income 212.9M
2017Revenue 4.7BOperating income 226.1M
2018Revenue 5.2BOperating income 222.9M
2019Revenue 5.6BOperating income 217.4M
2021Revenue 6.5BOperating income 391.7M
2022Revenue 6.1BOperating income 334.1M
2023Revenue 6.4BOperating income 358.4M
2023Revenue 6.8BOperating income 350.2M
2024Revenue 7.7BOperating income 504.5M
2025Revenue 8.8BOperating income 686.2M
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+11.2%
+6.4%
+9.0%
Operating income
+24.2%
+11.9%
+13.9%
Net income
+26.1%
+12.7%
+17.3%
Earnings per share
+30.4%
+16.9%
+22.9%
Free cash flow per share
+27.9%
+8.5%
+28.7%
Shares
-3.3%
-3.5%
-4.5%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 10.2%
0.0%10.0%20.0%30.0%
2017Return on invested capital 14.4%
2017Return on invested capital 17.5%
2018Return on invested capital 17.3%
2019
2021
2022Return on invested capital 20.9%
2023Return on invested capital 20.7%
2023Return on invested capital 20.7%
2024
2025
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
050.0M100.0M150.0M
2017Economic profit 38.9M
2017Economic profit 72.7M
2018Economic profit 74.5M
2019
2021
2022Economic profit 130.0M
2023Economic profit 136.1M
2023Economic profit 134.2M
2024
2025
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
37.3%
Return on assets
12.6%
Asset turnover
2.12×
Overheads (SG&A)
29.2% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2017Net income 124.3MFree cash flow 73.3MAfter stock-based pay 59.9M
2017Net income 158.4MFree cash flow 110.9MAfter stock-based pay 96.7M
2018Net income 158.5MFree cash flow 117.3MAfter stock-based pay 102.8M
2019Net income 149.6MFree cash flow 172.0MAfter stock-based pay 163.0M
2021Net income 287.4MFree cash flow 372.1MAfter stock-based pay 357.7M
2022Net income 244.2MFree cash flow 262.4MAfter stock-based pay 246.5M
2023Net income 261.2MFree cash flow 247.3MAfter stock-based pay 230.7M
2023Net income 258.9MFree cash flow 239.8MAfter stock-based pay 220.9M
2024Net income 380.6MFree cash flow 414.8MAfter stock-based pay 386.4M
2025Net income 523.7MFree cash flow 467.7MAfter stock-based pay 436.6M
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2017–2025
4.3B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 42%1.8B
Acquisitions 0%13.0M
Dividends 0%0
Share buybacks 52%2.2B
Kept, or used to pay down debt 6%240.2M
Over the same years it paid 176.3M in stock. The share count fell 34.0%. 2.0B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$0.00$2.00$4.00$6.00
2017Earnings per share $0.83Free cash flow per share $0.49
2017Earnings per share $1.15Free cash flow per share $0.80
2018Earnings per share $1.22Free cash flow per share $0.90
2019Earnings per share $1.25Free cash flow per share $1.44
2021Earnings per share $2.43Free cash flow per share $3.15
2022Earnings per share $2.10Free cash flow per share $2.26
2023Earnings per share $2.39Free cash flow per share $2.27
2023Earnings per share $2.50Free cash flow per share $2.32
2024Earnings per share $3.75Free cash flow per share $4.09
2025Earnings per share $5.31Free cash flow per share $4.74
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
80.0M100.0M120.0M140.0M160.0M
2017Diluted shares 149.7M
2017Diluted shares 137.9M
2018Diluted shares 129.8M
2019Diluted shares 119.7M
2021Diluted shares 118.2M
2022Diluted shares 116.1M
2023Diluted shares 109.1M
2023Diluted shares 103.4M
2024Diluted shares 101.4M
2025Diluted shares 98.7M
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-200.0M0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2017Net debt 242.5M
2017Net debt 328.5M
2018Net debt 451.4M
2019
2021
2022Net debt 4.7M
2023Net debt -43.2M
2023Net debt -76.8M
2024
2025
2017201720182019202120222023202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
—
Interest coverage
— operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.93 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
12 days collects in 3d, stock 29d, pays in 20d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
6of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✓Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforepassed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
–Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fell — not reportedno data
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
✓Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year beforepassed
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
1.99grey zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.01 × 6.56-0.10
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.13 × 3.26+0.44
Operating income ÷ assets 0.16 × 6.72+1.11
Equity ÷ liabilities 0.51 × 1.05+0.53
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-1.84below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.85+1.70
Gross margin slipping 0.98+0.52
Soft assets 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.40
Sales growth 1.14+1.02
Slower depreciation 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.12
Overheads vs sales 0.98-0.17
Profit not in cash -0.05-0.22
Leverage rising 1.12-0.37
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Receivables are growing 111% against revenue growing 14%.
Benign
A shift towards larger customers on longer terms, or sales concentrated at the end of the period.
Worrying
Sales are being made on looser credit, or revenue has been booked that may never be collected.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
Value per share, with these assumptions$46.21discounted at 10.2% a year · 50% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
8.7×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
5.4×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
0.5×
Free cash flow yield
9.6%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today2.3B
Everything after, today2.3B
The whole business4.6B
Minus net debt-0
What belongs to shareholders4.6B
Divided among 98.7M shares: <strong>$46.21</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
0200.0M400.0M600.0M
2017Reported 59.9M
2017Reported 96.7M
2018Reported 102.8M
2019Reported 163.0M
2021Reported 357.7M
2022Reported 246.5M
2023Reported 230.7M
2023Reported 220.9M
2024Reported 386.4M
2025Reported 436.6M
2026Projected 309.2M
2027Projected 327.9M
2028Projected 346.3M
2029Projected 364.2M
2030Projected 381.4M
2031Projected 397.7M
2032Projected 412.9M
2033Projected 426.9M
2034Projected 439.5M
2035Projected 450.5M
2017201820212023202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
9.4B
9.9B
10.5B
11.0B
11.6B
12.1B
12.5B
13.0B
13.3B
13.7B
Growth
6.5%
6.1%
5.6%
5.2%
4.7%
4.3%
3.8%
3.4%
2.9%
2.5%
Cash margin
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
3.3%
Free cash flow
309.2M
327.9M
346.3M
364.2M
381.4M
397.7M
412.9M
426.9M
439.5M
450.5M
Worth today
280.6M
270.1M
259.0M
247.2M
235.0M
222.4M
209.6M
196.7M
183.8M
171.0M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
9.2%
48
50
53
57
61
9.7%
45
47
50
52
56
10.2%
42
44
46
49
52
10.7%
40
41
43
45
48
11.2%
38
39
41
43
45
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
2.5%
4.5%
6.5%
8.5%
10.5%
2.6%
34
36
39
42
46
3.0%
36
39
43
46
50
3.3%
39
43
46
50
54
3.6%
42
46
50
54
58
4.0%
45
49
53
58
63
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$19.21
Median$46.21
90th percentile$78.86
$0.00$50.00$100.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$31.48</b> and <b>$62.09</b>; one in ten below $19.21, one in ten above $78.86.
Does the long run make sense?
4.6×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 4.6 times that year's EBITDA.
6%To grow 2.5% forever while reinvesting 44% of its after-tax operating profit, the business must earn 6% on the new capital — it has earned 21% on average over the last five years.
50%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
What lenders charge, after the tax saving on interest: 6.67% × (1 − 24.0%) = <strong>5.07%</strong>.
Weighted by how much of each the company uses (book value (no price given)): <strong>10.17%</strong>, the rate every future cash flow is discounted at.
What it has filed lately
The last twelve months at the SEC, most important first: annual and quarterly reports, events, large holders and insiders.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 4 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$6.8M9 sale(s) by 4 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans67%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.