What Management Said
Read the full Q3 2026 transcript ↗A copy of our earnings release and accompanying presentation is available on the Investors section of the company's website at thesimplygoodfoodscompany.com. Due to the company's asset-light business model, we evaluate our performance on an adjusted basis as it relates to EBITDA and diluted EPS. Then, I'll turn the call over to Chris, who will discuss our financial results and our updated outlook in a bit more detail before we open it up to take your questions. As we discussed on our last earnings call, our overall performance remains well below where we believe this business should perform, with each key financial metric declining meaningfully versus the prior year.
Gross margin declined 390 basis points to 32.5%, and adjusted EBITDA declined 22.5% to $57.2 million. Quest and OWYN net sales grew 1.1% and 3.6% versus prior year respectively, and both brands performed slightly better than we expected. Purposeful nutrition remains an attractive category supported by favorable long-term consumer trends, and retailers continue to view the category as an important source of growth. This increase is necessary to offset inflation we are experiencing across proteins, packaging, and other key cost inputs.
While we remain focused on productivity initiatives and cost reduction efforts, rebuilding margins requires decisive action on pricing, and we believe this increase is appropriate. Decisions are being made faster, priorities are clearer, and resources are increasingly concentrated behind fewer, higher return opportunities. Quest remains our largest brand and most important growth engine of the company. In the third quarter, Quest retail takeaway grew 1.4% compared to 2.4% growth last quarter.
What went well
- Third-quarter results came in ahead of the company's own expectations, reinforcing management's belief that its turnaround actions are the right ones, even as every key metric declined year over year.
- Quest and OWYN net sales grew 1.1% and 3.6% respectively (both slightly better than expected), with Quest chips consumption up over 17% (household penetration ~11%) and milkshakes up nearly 50% off a small base.
- Quest household penetration rose 120 basis points year over year to 20.5%, showing the brand continues to recruit consumers and remains relevant.
- Adjusted (ex-restructuring) gross margin of 34.3% exceeded the company's forecast, driven by productivity initiatives, and G&A (ex one-time items) declined 5% on lower employee costs.
- The balance sheet stayed strong with net debt at ~1.2x trailing adjusted EBITDA, $123.9 million of cash, and ~$240 million of buybacks over the last twelve months (~$213 million this fiscal year, ~$158 million left on the authorization).
- Management announced a high-single-digit price increase effective in September to offset protein, packaging and other input inflation and rebuild margins toward the long-term algorithm.
What went wrong
- Net sales declined 6.3% to $357 million and adjusted EBITDA fell 22.5% to $57.2 million, with retail takeaway down 6.7% while the purposeful-nutrition category grew 10% — a gap management attributes to execution, not the category.
- A GAAP operating loss of $49.9 million (versus $59.3 million income a year ago) and a net loss of $52 million resulted from an $82 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and the Atkins and OWYN brand intangibles.
- Atkins net sales fell 24.6% (retail takeaway -23.9%) on declining household penetration (now 8.5%, down 220 bps) from years of insufficient marketing support.
- Reported gross margin fell 390 basis points to 32.5% on volume declines, higher input costs (proteins) and $6.2 million of restructuring costs.
- Quest bar consumption declined ~5% (even with an incremental club rotation), pressuring total-brand buy rate, and OWYN faces expected distribution losses over the next 6-12 months from a prior product-quality issue and ineffective marketing.
- Management expects fiscal 2027 pricing elasticities of one or higher, meaning the September price increase will pressure volume, household penetration and buy rate — 'short-term pain for long-term gain.'
Guidance Changes
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | FY2026 | $1.345B-$1.355B (down 7%-6%); assumes current consumption trends plus expected distribution losses |
| GAAP gross margin | FY2026 | Expected to decline ~375 bps on input costs (proteins), supply-chain restructuring and OWYN quality-issue mitigation |
| Adjusted EBITDA | FY2026 | $220M-$225M (down 21%-19% YoY) |
| Net sales | Q4 FY2026 | $322M-$332M (down 13%-10%); similar consumption plus undershipping to right-size customer inventories |
| Adjusted EBITDA | Q4 FY2026 | $52M-$57M (down 22%-14%); strongest GAAP gross margin of the year as productivity offsets inflation |
| Price increase | September 2026 | High-single-digit across most of the portfolio to offset inflation |
| Capital expenditures | FY2026 | $25M-$30M (reduced on investment-priority changes) |
| Diluted share count / tax rate | FY2026 | ~90 million weighted-average diluted shares; Q4 effective tax rate ~25% |
Performance Breakdown
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Net sales | -6.3% to $357M | Weaker consumption, driven by a 24.6% Atkins decline, partly offset by Quest (+1.1%) and OWYN (+3.6%) growth. |
| GAAP diluted EPS | -$0.58 (net loss $52M) | An $82 million non-cash impairment of goodwill and the Atkins/OWYN brand intangibles drove a GAAP operating loss of $49.9 million. |
| Operating margin (GAAP) | -14.0% | The impairment charge; excluding it and restructuring, the underlying business remained profitable (adjusted EBITDA $57.2M). |
| Adjusted EBITDA | -22.5% to $57.2M | Volume declines and higher input costs, partly offset by productivity. |
| Gross margin | 32.5% (-390 bps; 34.3% ex-restructuring) | Volume declines, higher protein input costs and $6.2M of restructuring; ex-restructuring beat forecast on productivity. |
| Quest net sales / takeaway | +1.1% / +1.4% takeaway | Chips (+17%) and milkshakes (+50%) growth offset by a ~5% bar consumption decline; household penetration +120 bps to 20.5%. |
| Atkins net sales / takeaway | -24.6% / -23.9% takeaway | Declining household penetration (8.5%, -220 bps) from insufficient marketing and distribution losses. |
| OWYN net sales / takeaway | +3.6% / -1.3% takeaway | Prior product-quality issue and weak marketing; distribution resets expected over 6-12 months, household penetration flat at 4.3%. |
Earnings Call Themes & Trends
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Execution-driven turnaround | New CEO diagnosis | Returning CEO Joe Scalzo frames the challenges as execution-driven, not category-driven, focused on three priorities: strengthening the economics/cost structure, ensuring strategic consistency and organizational focus, and rebuilding ROI-based brand investment — early progress with faster decisions and clearer priorities. | — |
| Pricing to rebuild margins | Margin erosion | A high-single-digit September price increase offsets protein/packaging inflation (expected to continue into fiscal 2027) to rebuild a P&L toward the long-term algorithm (~40% gross margin, ~10% marketing, ~20% EBITDA margin), accepting elasticity of one-plus and a volume/household-penetration hit as short-term pain for long-term gain. | — |
| Quest — refocus on the core | Largest growth engine | Quest remains healthy (household penetration up to 20.5%), but management is refocusing on the core bar and chip segments (~80% of the brand); bars are the top priority (weak innovation, poor top-of-funnel communication) with a new marketing agency reasserting superior nutrition and taste. | — |
| Atkins reset | Declining penetration | Atkins is being reset to a disciplined, fact-based baseline aligned with current household penetration; comparisons ease into Q4 and next year, weekly run-rate consumption is more consistent, and management sees a role for Atkins in a GLP-1 weight-management world (high interactivity between Atkins snack buyers and GLP-1 users). | — |
| OWYN integration cleanup | Product-quality issue | The product issue is fixed but distribution losses on non-core line extensions are expected over 6-12 months; the core 32g protein shake and powder business is already showing signs of growth, with a long-term opportunity to close the gap between ~4% household penetration and an ~18-19% interested audience. | — |
| Marketing reallocation to top of funnel | Overweight lower-funnel | Investment is shifting back to higher-ROI top-of-funnel streaming/connected media (Quest marketing grew but was being spent too low in the funnel); a marketing-mix study and GLP-1 consumer-insight work will guide future ROI-justified investment. | — |
| GLP-1 opportunity | Off-drug maintenance thesis | A completed GLP-1 study yields consumer insights to guide marketing and innovation; management will test ideas in market next fiscal year, with Atkins showing high interactivity between snack buyers and GLP-1 weight-management users — details to come. | — |
Q&A Summary
Peter Grom (UBS) asked about the top-line trajectory (weaker implied Q4 exit rate, shipments vs consumption) and 2027 thinking given the September pricing.
Bealer said Q4 consumption should mirror Q3 with a slight undershipment to right-size inventories (partly OWYN distribution losses); Scalzo said two quarters of consistent consumption change is a reasonable jumping-off point for 2027, but the high-single-digit price increase (elasticity of one-plus) will hit volume — necessary short-term pain to fund marketing firepower for the turnaround.
Matt Smith (Stifel) asked whether Quest consumption decelerates in Q4 without the club rotation and about the bar performance.
Scalzo said Quest is not a relevance issue (penetration growing) but a bar issue (weak innovation, poor top-of-funnel communication, less brand investment); the club rotation continues into Q4 so trends look similar, then burns off, so bars may be a bit weaker entering fiscal 2027 as re-accelerating bars is the top priority.
Matt Smith (Stifel) followed up on whether the company can confidently increase marketing now or must wait for the new messaging and marketing-mix results.
Scalzo said the first step is reallocating spend back to higher-ROI top-of-funnel activities; the marketing-mix study returns in a few weeks to justify further, ROI-based investment, but structurally the business needs a P&L (higher gross margin) that affords more marketing firepower over time.
Jim Salera (Stephens) asked how to think about distribution across the portfolio over the next 6-12 months.
Scalzo said he de-emphasizes distribution in favor of household penetration and buy rate; OWYN sheds non-core items over ~6+ months (core shakes/powders growing), Atkins resets to current penetration with easing comps into Q4 and next year, and Quest continues to gain distribution though its real issue is top-of-funnel communication and bar innovation.
Jim Salera (Stephens) asked when marketing changes flow through to velocity and household penetration.
Scalzo cautioned turnarounds happen in stages, not on a fixed timeline; watch leading indicators — strategic consistency, better execution, improving margins (the fuel), then strengthening household metrics and stabilizing/growing brands — with financial results following.
Alexia Howard (Bernstein) asked about input inflation (cocoa, whey, freight, dairy) and how much September pricing is planned.
Bealer said cocoa costs are declining as expected (a Q4 tailwind) but are more than offset by sharply higher whey pricing, plus ingredient, packaging and freight inflation — which is exactly why the high-single-digit September price increase is needed to move the economic structure back toward the long-term algorithm.
Alexia Howard (Bernstein) asked how the company plans to lean into the GLP-1 opportunity based on new insights.
Scalzo asked for patience — the agency behind Atkins' prior successful campaigns has completed strategy/insight work he reviewed three weeks ago; ideas will be tested in market next fiscal year, with a notable insight being high interactivity between Atkins snack buyers and GLP-1 weight-management users.
Jon Andersen (William Blair) asked about the Quest chips outlook/competition and capital allocation.
Scalzo said chips is a ~$500M brand growing mid-teens with room to grow household penetration and buy rate, though tortilla-flavor innovation is becoming less incremental (opportunity in cheese crackers and new salty ideas); Bealer said capital priorities are funding the turnaround, chips capacity expansion, then buybacks/debt paydown/other as returns dictate, with capex cut to $25-30M.
Robert Moskow (TD Cowen) asked to clarify the ~90 million share-count guidance and about educating consumers on protein/net-carb quality.
Bealer clarified the guidance simply reflects the diluted share count as of the earnings date; Scalzo said Quest will return to its core DNA of craveable taste and best-in-class nutrition across the funnel, including more competitive lower-funnel messaging that highlights weaker competitor nutritional profiles.
Steve Powers (Deutsche Bank) asked to confirm the share count math and about SKU complexity/productivity across the portfolio.
Bealer confirmed ~90 million diluted shares (the GAAP net loss affects the calculation); Scalzo said the team has done a good job cleaning up the portfolio (replacing less-productive SKUs), with only modest trimming left beyond OWYN's non-core reduction — not a burning platform.
More on Simply Good Foods Co
Reported 2026-07-09 · figures from the Simply Good Foods Co Q3 2026 earnings call.
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