Dole
Dole's revenue rose 8.2% to $9.2 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 2.4%, down from 3.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $2 million, down 99.0%. It paid out $32 million in dividends and buybacks, 1847% of free cash flow. The diluted share count rose 0.5%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What Dole does
Dole plc grows, buys, ships and sells fresh fruit and vegetables. It handles more than 300 products, sources them from over 100 countries and distributes them in more than 85 countries. Its customers include grocery stores, wholesalers, mass merchandisers, foodservice operators, club stores and convenience stores, and it says no one customer accounted for a major share of 2025 sales. Its best-known brand is DOLE.
It reports three segments. Fresh Fruit covers bananas, pineapples and plantains, mostly grown in Latin America on company-owned and leased farms and by independent growers. Approximately one-third of the bananas it markets and 75% of its pineapples come from its own production. It also runs refrigerated ships and sells spare cargo space to other shippers. Diversified Fresh Produce, Europe, the Middle East and Africa sells imported and local produce across Europe. Diversified Fresh Produce, Americas and the Rest of the World markets items such as avocados, kiwis, apples, berries and cherries.
On August 5, 2025, Dole sold its Fresh Vegetables division for approximately $140.0 million, and it reports that division as discontinued operations. It owns approximately 112,000 acres of farms and other land.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Bad weather, natural disasters, crop disease and pests, including a banana disease called Tropical Race 4.
- Product contamination and product liability claims.
- Swings in market prices and demand for its produce, and changes in the cost of the fruit it buys.
- Strong competition, and reliance on a few key customers and key suppliers.
- Debt, underfunded pension plans and trade or tariff policy changes that could hurt its results.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2019 to 2025, earnings per share fell 9.9% a year and net income 1.2% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 72% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Dole yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Dole's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Dole's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $2M, net cash of −$600M at December 31, 2025 and 96 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Dole: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 4.6% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 9%: 7% for a stable business (Agricultural Products & Services), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $1.3B, plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2021); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target. A negative value means Dole's net debt is larger than what that scenario's cash flows are worth today.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $13.30
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Dole's earnings per share of $0.53 (in fiscal 2025). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 24×, the middle of Dole's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Consumer Staples median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 10%, 9% and 8%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $13.30
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Dole's P/E at the last close
- 25.1×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| DoleDOLE | $13.30 | $0.53 | 25.1× |
| Bunge GlobalBG | $102.22 | $4.29 | 23.8× |
| Archer Daniels MidlandADM | $79.01 | $3.65 | 21.6× |
| Darling IngredientsDAR | $57.16 | $3.71 | 15.4× |
| IngredionINGR | $95.43 | $9.17 | 10.4× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 257 | 234 | 282 | 336 | 274 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 1,400 | 1,251 | 1,094 | 967 | 874 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 1,143 | 1,017 | 812 | 631 | 600 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 20.1x | 3.6x | 2.2x | 1.7x | 1.8x |
| Debt to equity | 1.3x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.8x | 0.6x |
| Interest coverage | −0.3x | 3.1x | 3.4x | 3.9x | 3.4x |
| Current ratio | 1.2x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Quick ratio | 0.9x | 0.8x | 0.9x | 0.9x | 0.8x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 1 insider bought $8.6 million of Dole shares on the open market, and none sold any.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 22, 2026 | Pale Fire Capital SE10% owner | Bought | 163,780 | $13.39 | $2.2 million | Form 4 |
| Oct 21, 2026 | Pale Fire Capital SE10% owner | Bought | 438,900 | $13.12 | $5.8 million | Form 4 |
| Oct 20, 2026 | Pale Fire Capital SE10% owner | Bought | 45,676 | $13.24 | $604,586 | Form 4 |
| Oct 12, 2026 | Pale Fire Capital SE10% owner | Bought | 5,700 | $13.28 | $75,721 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| F-score | 8 of 9 | 8 of 9 | 6 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −3.8% | −3.0% | −1.6% |
Compare
Put Dole side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dole | FY25 | 8.2% | 2.4% | 0.0% | 6.3% | 1.8x | 6 | |
| Ingredion | FY25 | −2.8% | 14.1% | 7.1% | 16.0% | 0.6x | 8 | Compare |
| Darling Ingredients | FY25 | 7.4% | 4.5% | 11.1% | 3.2% | 5.0x | 7 | Compare |
| Bunge Global | FY25 | 32.4% | — | −1.2% | 6.1% | 5.0x | 4 | Compare |
| Archer Daniels Midland | FY25 | −6.2% | — | 5.2% | 5.2% | 2.4x | 5 | Compare |
7 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | |||||||
| Revenue | 4,167 | 4,346 | 5,944 | 8,024 | 8,245 | 8,475 | 9,173 |
| Revenue growth | — | 4.3% | 36.8% | 35.0% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 8.2% |
| Gross profit | 302 | 334 | 344 | 600 | 694 | 718 | 714 |
| Research and development | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Operating income | 48 | 67 | −9 | 175 | 272 | 281 | 223 |
| Net income | 55 | 52 | −7 | 86 | 124 | 126 | 51 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 0.99 | 0.94 | −0.10 | 0.91 | 1.30 | 1.32 | 0.53 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 56 | 56 | 72 | 95 | 95 | 96 | 96 |
| Cash flow | |||||||
| Cash from operations | 75 | 145 | 16 | 239 | 299 | 263 | 123 |
| Capital expenditure | 27 | 23 | 59 | 86 | 78 | 82 | 122 |
| Free cash flow | 48 | 121 | −42 | 153 | 221 | 180 | 2 |
| Dividends paid | 15 | 12 | 17 | 30 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 5 | 0 | 104 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | |||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 130 | 160 | 257 | 234 | 282 | 336 | 274 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | 356 | 1,400 | 1,251 | 1,094 | 967 | 874 |
| Total assets | — | 1,886 | 4,668 | 4,592 | 4,561 | 4,446 | 4,396 |
| Total liabilities | — | 1,198 | 3,423 | 3,273 | 3,140 | 3,011 | 2,894 |
| Shareholders' equity | 614 | 535 | 1,081 | 1,161 | 1,250 | 1,293 | 1,364 |
| Margins and ratios | |||||||
| Gross margin | 7.3% | 7.7% | 5.8% | 7.5% | 8.4% | 8.5% | 7.8% |
| Operating margin | 1.1% | 1.5% | −0.1% | 2.2% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 2.4% |
| Net margin | 1.3% | 1.2% | −0.1% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 0.6% |
| Free cash flow margin | 1.2% | 2.8% | −0.7% | 1.9% | 2.7% | 2.1% | 0.0% |
| Return on capital | — | — | −0.4% | 7.5% | 9.5% | 9.1% | 6.3% |
| Return on equity | — | — | −0.9% | 7.7% | 10.3% | 9.9% | 3.9% |
| Return on assets | — | — | −0.2% | 1.9% | 2.7% | 2.8% | 1.2% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | 1.9x | 20.1x | 3.6x | 2.2x | 1.7x | 1.8x |