Mama's Creations NASDAQ: MAMA reported record fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results on its earnings call Tuesday, highlighting strong revenue growth, improved profitability, and continued momentum with national retailers following its Crown 1 acquisition.
Fiscal 2026 results and record fourth quarter
Chairman and CEO Adam L. Michaels called fiscal 2026 “the most transformational year in the history of Mama’s Creations,” citing a revenue increase of 39% to $171.7 million and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 50% to $15.4 million. The company also posted a record fiscal fourth quarter, with revenue up 60.7% year over year to $54.0 million.
CFO Anthony Gruber said the revenue gains were driven primarily by “item expansion at existing customers, successful high ROI promotional activities that accelerated velocities, initial placements at new customers, and the acquisition of Crown 1.”
Profitability also improved on a full-year basis. Gross profit rose 41% to $43.0 million, representing 25.1% of revenue, compared with 24.8% in the prior year. In the fourth quarter, gross profit increased 53.8% to $14.0 million, though gross margin decreased to 25.9% from 27.0% a year ago. Gruber attributed the fourth-quarter margin pressure to “the continued ramp of the Crown 1 facility,” while full-year margin expansion reflected “operational efficiencies, procurement optimization, and stabilized commodity costs across the platform.”
Net income for the fourth quarter increased 37.5% to $2.2 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, while full-year net income rose 43.2% to $5.3 million, or $0.13 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 77.4% in the fourth quarter to $5.5 million.
Integration of Bay Shore and the company’s “four Cs”
Michaels framed the year’s execution around the company’s “4C strategy”: cost, controls, culture, and catapult. On cost, he said the integration of Crown 1’s Bay Shore facility “has exceeded our expectations,” noting that procurement and logistics are now “100% centralized” and production has been rebalanced across all three facilities to optimize capacity and reduce overtime.
He said Bay Shore’s gross margin has improved “meaningfully since the acquisition,” and management reiterated its goal to bring the facility in line with a “mid- to high-20s gross margin corporate target.” Michaels added that cross-selling between the legacy Mama’s customer base and Crown 1’s premium accounts is “just beginning to materialize” and is expected to be “a meaningful growth driver” in the coming year.
On controls, Michaels highlighted food safety performance, reporting that all three facilities recently achieved third-party SQF scores of 98, or “Excellent,” and said two of the three audits were unannounced. He also cited the introduction of a Power BI platform in the fourth quarter and further expansion of planning and procurement capabilities.
On culture, Michaels said the Bay Shore acquisition brought added management talent and enabled an enterprise-wide shared services model. He also pointed to new internal communication tools, including an employee portal and the “Mama’s Pantry” intranet site, and teased additional learning and development initiatives under “Mama’s University.”
Retail expansion: Costco milestones and new national wins
Michaels said the company’s “catapult” strategy—focused on expanding distribution, increasing velocities, and leveraging retail programming—drove “extraordinarily strong results” in the quarter and throughout fiscal 2026. A major focus was Costco, where Michaels described a multi-year ramp from roughly $0.5 million in sales three years ago to $10 million in annualized sales by fiscal 2025.
He said the company’s first national print MVM in the fourth quarter marked a “true milestone,” and management reported that the company achieved “everyday item status in the Northeast,” which Michaels called a landmark step toward “steady-state, repeatable, and plannable business.”
Beyond Costco, Michaels outlined several retail wins and expansions:
- Walmart: Added another item in Q4 and is launching seven new branded SKUs in up to 2,000 stores.
- Target: Approved for two branded SKUs; one is already on shelf and launching in 750 stores with plans to ramp to approximately 2,000 stores.
- Food Lion: Expanded to roughly 1,200 stores with five branded SKUs.
Michaels said these placements validate the company’s “product innovation, quality, and operational excellence,” adding that the business is “growing at five times the category growth rate.”
Marketing, trade spend, and branded mix
During Q&A, management addressed higher trade promotion spend in the fourth quarter. Michaels said the company would “continue to invest the trade as long as our gross margins are in the mid- to high 20s,” and described the returns as driven by programming success, including at Costco. He said management monitors trade closely and can adjust based on commodity and freight conditions, describing trade planning as something the company evaluates “week to week, month to month.”
Michaels also highlighted marketing initiatives tied to Instacart, saying the company’s Instacart programming made Costco’s MVM “the most successful campaign in Mama’s history.” He said 65% of consumers in the campaign were “new to brand,” and added that Mama’s became the “number one meatball on Instacart for all of Q4.”
On branded versus private label demand, Michaels said he is “seeing a lot more branded,” pointing to recent wins where Food Lion placements were “five out of five” branded, Walmart was “seven out of seven” branded, and Target’s two items were branded. He also said retailers that historically carried the company as private label, including Publix and BJ’s, have asked to transition items to branded. Still, he said the company will supply private label if requested, noting the pricing is the same regardless of branding.
Outlook themes: double-digit growth, CapEx discipline, commodities, and M&A
Asked about fiscal 2027 growth, Michaels told D.A. Davidson’s Brian Holland that the company feels “comfortable that double-digit growth will continue.” He acknowledged tougher comparisons in certain quarters due to prior-year programming, particularly around Costco, but reiterated a “double-digit growth aspiration” and said the company expects to continue gaining share in a category he described as growing in the mid-single digits.
On gross margin, Michaels cautioned against using any single quarter as a baseline due to commodity seasonality and promotion timing, but said he feels confident gross margins will be higher “four quarters from now” than current levels.
CapEx was discussed in the context of continued investments across the network, including technology integration at Bay Shore. Michaels said the company’s approach is to fund capital spending from operating cash flow and plans to spend “mid- to high-single-digit millions of dollars a year,” contingent on cash flow generation.
On commodities, Michaels said beef pricing is “relatively stable high,” while chicken prices tend to rise seasonally. He said the company is contracted for “close to 70%” of chicken needs and uses forecasting tools, including Expana, to proactively communicate with retailers and implement pricing actions when necessary. He also cited operational levers such as trimming, procurement work, and freight efficiency initiatives like increasing minimum order quantities.
On M&A readiness, Michaels said the company wants acquisitions but “doesn’t need to do acquisitions,” emphasizing discipline. He said potential deals must be accretive to EPS, add customers and capacity, and fit the company’s capabilities, while noting that Bay Shore integration is ahead of plan but still requires further work, including technology implementation.
Gruber said the company ended fiscal 2026 with $20.0 million in cash and cash equivalents as of January 31, 2026, up from $7.2 million a year earlier, and total debt of $5.4 million. He said the balance sheet, credit facilities, and cash flow generation position the company to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities.
About Mama's Creations NASDAQ: MAMA
Mama's Creations, Inc engages in the marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of beef meatballs with sauce, turkey meatballs with sauce, beef meat loaf, sausage and peppers, chicken parmesan, and other similar meats and sauces. Its products include beef meatballs, turkey meatballs, stuffed meatballs, lasagna roll ups, retail ready meals, bulk deli, single-size pasta bowls, and packaged refrigerated products. Its brands include MamaMancini's, Creative Salads, and The Olive Branch. The company was founded by Daniel Dougherty on July 22, 2009 and is headquartered in East Rutherford, NJ.
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