McCormick & Company Inc (MKC)
UndervaluedFundamental
67
Price
$45.88
Market Cap
$13.03B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
McCormick manufactures, markets and distributes herbs, spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavour products to the entire food and beverage industry — grocery retailers, food manufacturers and foodservice operators. It sells branded products to households under names such as McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, Lawry's, Cholula, OLD BAY, Zatarain's, Schwartz, Ducros and Kamis, and at the same time develops custom flavour systems, coatings and compound flavours for industrial food companies and restaurant chains. Operations span North America, Europe, China, Australia, Central America, Thailand and South Africa, and roughly two-thirds of consumer sales are spices and seasonings plus condiments and sauces. Fiscal 2025 ended on 30 November 2025 with consolidated net sales of $6,840.3 million.
How it makes money
Revenue comes from selling physical product, not from subscriptions or licences. On the consumer side McCormick ships branded packages to grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug chains and e-commerce, partly direct and partly through brokers, wholesalers and distributors; margins rest on brand pricing power and on the gap between commodity input cost and shelf price. On the industrial side it is paid by food manufacturers and foodservice chains for seasoning blends, coating systems and compound flavours developed to a customer's own recipe — lower margin than the branded business but stickier, because a flavour that has been written into a customer's product formulation is not swapped casually. In fiscal 2025 the consumer half produced 58% of sales but 67% of operating income, the flavour-solutions half 42% of sales and 33% of operating income.
Revenue by segment
Branded herbs, spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and sauces sold to households through grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug stores and e-commerce, under names including McCormick, French's, Frank's RedHot, Lawry's, Cholula, OLD BAY, Zatarain's, Schwartz, Ducros and Kamis. It generated 67% of consolidated operating income in fiscal 2025.
Seasoning blends, spices and herbs, condiments, coating systems and compound flavours supplied to food and beverage manufacturers and to foodservice and restaurant customers, often formulated to the customer's own specification. It generated 33% of consolidated operating income in fiscal 2025.
Competitive moat
Brand · WideThe 10-K describes McCormick as the global brand leader and category leader in its key markets for spices and seasonings, and one of the brand leaders globally and in the United States in condiments and sauces. Two things make that hard to attack: spices are a small line on the grocery bill but a large share of how a dish tastes, so shoppers rarely trade down for a few cents; and the shelf space a century-old brand occupies is hard for a newcomer to buy. The industrial half adds a second, quieter advantage — a flavour developed inside a customer's product formulation carries switching costs, since replacing it means reformulating and re-testing the customer's own product. The counterweight the company itself names is private label and competitive brands, which is a live pressure rather than a theoretical one.
What drives demand
DefensivePeople season their food in good years and bad ones, and a jar of spice is a small enough purchase that it rarely gets cut when budgets tighten — if anything, a downturn that pushes meals from restaurants back into the kitchen tends to help the consumer half. The industrial half tracks its customers' own volumes, so it moves with packaged-food and restaurant traffic and is a little more exposed to a slowdown. The real swing factor for McCormick is not the economic cycle but the cost cycle: agricultural input prices, packaging, freight and tariffs move first, and the pricing the company can pass through to retailers follows with a lag, which is what compresses or expands margin from year to year.
Key risks
- Weak economy and inflation reaching the shopper — The company discloses that deterioration of global economic conditions, recession or slow growth, inflation or economic uncertainty in its key markets may hurt customer and consumer spending and demand for its products.
- Brand damage and the rise of private label — Damage to reputation or brand name, loss of brand relevance, greater use of private label or competing brands by customers or consumers, competitive pressure in marketing and technology, or product quality and safety concerns are all disclosed as able to hurt the business.
- Dependence on a few very large customers — The filing flags both customer consolidation — and the economic and competitive pressure the retailers themselves face — and the risk of failing to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with large customers.
- Sourcing raw materials and supply chain disruption — Issues in procuring raw materials are disclosed as able to hurt the company, as is disruption of the supply chain. McCormick buys agricultural crops grown across many countries and exposed to weather and local conditions.
- Trade policy and tariffs — The company states that changes in global trade policies have already affected and may continue to affect its financial condition and results.
- Prices may not fully cover rising costs — McCormick discloses that it may be unable to raise prices enough to fully offset inflation in raw and packaging materials, labour and distribution, and separately flags labour shortages, turnover and rising labour costs.
- Competition on profitability — The filing states plainly that profitability may suffer as a result of competition in its markets.
Customer concentration
Top customers account for 24% of revenue
The 10-K states that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. accounted for approximately 12% of consolidated sales in 2025, 2024 and 2023, and that PepsiCo, Inc. — a Flavor Solutions customer — also accounted for approximately 12% of consolidated sales in 2025, the two together representing roughly 24% of consolidated sales. That is meaningful concentration for a consumer-goods company: one retailer and one food-and-beverage manufacturer between them decide the terms on nearly a quarter of the revenue, which is why the company lists both customer consolidation and the loss of a large relationship among its own risk factors.
The case for
Buyers argue that this is one of the few food businesses whose category position has not been eroded: the filing describes McCormick as global brand leader in spices and seasonings and a leader in condiments and sauces, categories where the product is cheap per purchase and decisive for how the food tastes, which historically supports passing cost increases through to the shelf. They point to fiscal 2025 organic sales growth of 2% — split between 1% volume and 1% price — as evidence that the company can grow units rather than lean only on price, and to the consumer segment delivering 67% of operating income on 58% of sales as the sign of a genuinely profitable branded core. They also argue the two halves reinforce each other: the industrial business gives early sight of where flavour trends are heading and produces relationships that are hard for a customer to unwind, while the branded business turns those trends into higher-margin packaged product.
The case against
Sellers fear that the growth here is thin for the price the market attaches to it: 2% organic growth in fiscal 2025, with consolidated net sales of $6,840.3 million against $6,723.7 million the year before, is a company expanding barely faster than the food it sells gets more expensive. They worry about the two customers that together account for roughly 24% of consolidated sales, since a retailer of that size can demand price concessions, reset shelf space or push its own private label into the same aisle — and the company itself lists private label growth and the loss of a large relationship among its risk factors. They also point at the cost side: McCormick discloses that it may not be able to raise prices enough to fully offset inflation in raw materials, packaging, labour and distribution, and that trade policy changes have already affected results, so an agricultural or tariff shock lands on the margin before any price increase can catch up. Finally, the industrial half — 42% of sales but only 33% of operating income — is a lower-margin business whose volumes depend on what its own customers sell.
Generated on September 19, 2026 with claude-haiku-4-5 — shared with all users
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
No editorial profile for this company yet
No competitor list for this company yet.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$7.39B
Trailing 12 months (through 5/31/2026)
Net Income
$1.62B
Trailing 12 months (through 5/31/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$740M
Total Equity
$5.74B
Total Liabilities
$7.43B
Current Ratio
0.78
Interest Coverage
5.34
Debt/EBITDA
3.79
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$64.70
Current Price
$45.88
Margin of Safety
+29.1%
Fair Value Range
$45.79 - $83.61
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
7.72
ROE
13.8%
P/B Ratio
1.69
P/FCF
11.56
Gross Margin
38.6%
ROIC
6.8%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
6.8%
WACC
6.7%
ROIC − WACC
+0.1 pp
ROIC is roughly in line with the cost of capital — the company is barely covering its capital cost.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (21)
- EPS shows upward trend
- ROIC 6.8%
- Gross Margin 38.6%
- P/FCF 11.56
- P/B Ratio 1.69
- Debt/Equity ratio
- Operating Margin 14.9%
- Positive Free Cash Flow
- CapEx intensity
- Current Ratio
- Interest Coverage
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on Tangible Assets
- Price below Graham Number
- ROE 25.4%
- Analyst Consensus 50% Buy
- Earnings Surprise avg 6.2%
- Earnings Quality (OCF/NI) 0.76
- Share Dilution -0.2%
- Net Margin Trend 21.9% vs 11.5%
- Piotroski F-Score 6/9
Failed (6)
- EPS CAGR 2.46%
- Price CAGR 0.96%
- Low reliance on intangibles
- DCF valuation (Unknown)
- Revenue Growth 5Y 4.1%
- PEG Ratio 7.34
Unavailable (1)
- Dividend Payout NaN%
Piotroski F-Score
Mixed signals: some areas need attention
Earnings Quality
Moderate: some gap between profits and cash
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Institutional Holdings
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Brendan M. Foley | President, CEO & Chairman | 59 |
| Mr. Marcos Mendes Gabriel | Executive VP & CFO | 53 |
| Mr. Jeffery D. Schwartz | VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary | 55 |
| Ms. Sarah J. Piper | Chief Human Relations Officer | 48 |
| Mr. Andrew Foust | Chief Integration Officer | 44 |
| Ms. Anju Rao | Chief Science Officer | - |
| Mr. Guy Peri | Chief Information & Digital Officer | - |
| Ms. Faten Freiha | Vice President of Investor Relations | - |
| Ms. Tabata L. Gomez | Chief Growth & Marketing Officer | 44 |
| Ms. Ana Sanchez | President of Europe & Middle East and Africa (EMEA) | 49 |
Audit Risk
4
Board Risk
10
Compensation Risk
4
Shareholder Rights Risk
10
Part 2 · The price and when to enter
This part won't tell you whether the company is worth owning: it helps you choose when to buy it, once the fundamentals have convinced you. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Documents
- View document
Annual Report (10-K)
A yearly overview of the business, its financial results, and the risks it faces.
Filed on 2026-01-22
- View document
Quarterly Report (10-Q)
A snapshot of financial performance for the most recent three-month period.
Filed on 2026-06-25
- View document
Current Report (8-K)
An announcement of a major event, such as a leadership change or big news.
Filed on 2026-10-01
via SEC EDGAR
Income History
via SEC EDGAR
Latest News
Recent headlines for MKC, sourced from Markets Gazette.
- 4h agoPOSITIVEMcCormick conferma guidance dopo vendite sopra le attese nel terzo trimestre
McCormick & Company, a US-based leader in flavors and spices, reported net sales of $2.02 billion for its third quarter ending August 31, 2026, marking a significant 17.4% year-over-year increase. The company has reaffirmed its full-year financial guidance, signaling confidence in its ongoing performance. This robust sales growth, exceeding expectations, suggests strong consumer demand for its products and effective market strategies. Investors will likely view this performance positively, potentially leading to increased stock valuation as the company demonstrates its ability to grow market share and maintain profitability.
- 7/23/2026POSITIVEMcCormick Will Add London Listing After Unilever Food Deal
McCormick & Co. has announced its intention to pursue a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, a move that follows its significant deal to combine with Unilever Plc's food business. This strategic decision aims to enhance its global visibility and access to European capital markets. The company's stock (MKC) has shown resilience, with analysts noting that such dual listings can often unlock shareholder value by broadening investor appeal and potentially reducing the cost of capital. The integration with Unilever's food assets is expected to create a larger, more diversified entity, and the London listing is seen as a positive step in that integration process.
- 7/23/2026POSITIVEMcCormick Plans to Add a London Listing After Unilever Food Deal
McCormick & Company, a global leader in flavor, has announced plans for a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. This strategic move follows the company's significant acquisition of Unilever Plc's foods business earlier this year. The dual listing is expected to enhance McCormick's visibility and accessibility for European investors, potentially broadening its investor base and improving liquidity. For shareholders, this development signals a commitment to international growth and may unlock new avenues for capital appreciation as the company integrates its new assets and expands its global footprint.
- 7/17/2026NEUTRALU.S. companies have finally gotten $71 billion in tariff refunds, but they’re using it to offset inflation caused by the Iran war
McCormick & Company, a leading spice and seasoning producer, is utilizing a significant portion of its $71 billion in tariff refunds to counteract rising inflation, primarily driven by the ongoing Middle East conflict. The company's CFO stated that these refunds are essential for offsetting increased operational costs. While the tariff refunds provide a financial cushion, the inflationary pressures stemming from geopolitical instability present a mixed outlook for the company's profitability and investor returns in the near term.
- 4/9/2026POSITIVEMcCormick CEO Explains Unilever Deal
McCormick CEO Brendan Foley detailed the strategic rationale behind the company's acquisition of Unilever's food business in a Bloomberg interview. The move is designed to create a global flavor powerhouse by enhancing scale, driving flavor innovation, and consolidating supply chain control. Foley articulated a strategy to challenge private label competitors, capitalize on wellness trends, and foster growth through both acquisitions and internal R&D. This acquisition is poised to significantly expand McCormick's market presence and product portfolio, positioning it for sustained growth in the global food industry.
- 4/3/2026NEUTRALDeal Dispatch: McCormick, Unilever Merge, Sysco Acquires Jetro Restaurant Depot For $29 Billion, QVC Considers Bankruptcy
The M&A landscape is active with several significant transactions. McCormick and Unilever are reportedly in merger discussions, a move that could reshape the consumer staples sector. In a separate development, Sysco is set to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot for $29 billion, a substantial deal aimed at expanding its foodservice distribution network. Meanwhile, QVC is reportedly considering bankruptcy, signaling potential distress in the retail sector. Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals for $7.8 billion, bolstering its drug pipeline. Conversely, IO Biotech has filed for bankruptcy, highlighting challenges in the biotech industry.
- 4/1/2026POSITIVEMcCormick Acquires Unilever Food Arm in $44.8B Merger
McCormick & Company is set to acquire Unilever's global food business in a landmark $44.8 billion transaction. This strategic merger will consolidate McCormick's position as a dominant force in the global seasonings, sauces, and condiments market. The deal is expected to unlock significant synergies and expand McCormick's product portfolio and geographic reach. Investors will be watching for integration progress and the realization of projected cost savings and revenue growth opportunities, which could lead to enhanced shareholder value.
- 3/31/2026NEGATIVEMcCormick’s stock having worst month in 46 years, as investors frown on Unilever Foods deal
McCormick & Company's stock is experiencing its worst monthly performance in 46 years, following the announcement of its $44.8 billion deal to merge with Unilever's food division. This significant market reaction suggests investor apprehension regarding the terms or strategic implications of the acquisition. The substantial decline in share price indicates a lack of confidence in the deal's value creation potential, potentially due to concerns over valuation, integration challenges, or the long-term outlook for the combined entity. Investors are closely watching for further developments and reassurances from management.
- 3/31/2026POSITIVEMcCormick investors like the $44.8 billion Unilever Foods deal, even though there’s a catch
McCormick & Company's stock experienced a significant upward trend in pre-market trading following reports of a potential $44.8 billion deal to merge with Unilever's foods division. While the specific deal was not detailed in McCormick's latest earnings report, the market's reaction suggests strong investor enthusiasm for the strategic combination. This potential merger could reshape the consumer staples landscape, offering McCormick enhanced scale and market reach. Investors are closely watching for further details and official confirmations, as the proposed transaction signals substantial strategic ambition and potential value creation.
via Markets Gazette