Flowers Foods vs Lamb Weston
Lamb Weston reported revenue of $6.6 billion in fiscal 2026, 1.3 times Flowers Foods' $5.3 billion in fiscal 2025. Flowers Foods' revenue grew 3.0% in its latest year, and Lamb Weston's grew 2.5%. Flowers Foods had an operating margin of 3.3%, against 8.9% at Lamb Weston. Free cash flow was $319 million at Flowers Foods and $540 million at Lamb Weston. Their fiscal years end in different months (January 3 and May 31), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Flowers Foods | Lamb Weston | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Jan 3, 2026 | FY2026, May 31, 2026 |
| Revenue | $5.3B | $6.6B |
| Revenue growth | 3.0% | 2.5% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 3.7% | 12.5% |
| Gross margin | — | 20.6% |
| Operating margin | 3.3% | 8.9% |
| Net margin | 1.6% | 4.4% |
| Free cash flow | $319M | $540M |
| Free cash flow margin | 6.1% | 8.2% |
| Return on capital | 4.6% | 7.1% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 5.1x | 3.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $215M | $208M |
| Change in diluted share count | −0.0% | −2.5% |
| Last close | $6.14 | $53.67 |
| P/E at the last close | 22.7× | 29.3× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $42,522, sold $4.0 million | bought $19.4 million, sold $0 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 of 8 | 7 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
Flowers FoodsLamb Weston
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
Flowers FoodsLamb Weston
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
Flowers FoodsLamb Weston
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Flowers Foods and Lamb Weston pages.