Freshpet, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results

Full Year 2025 Net Sales Growth of 13% and Achieves Positive Free Cash Flow
Provides Full Year 2026 Outlook

BEDMINSTER, N.J., Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freshpet, Inc. (“Freshpet” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: FRPT) today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year Period

• Net sales of $285.2 million, an increase of 8.6%.

• Gross margin of 43.3%, compared to the prior year period of 42.5%.

• Adjusted Gross Margin of 48.4%, compared to the prior year period of 48.1%.¹

• Net income of $33.8 million, compared to the prior year period net income of $18.1 million.

• Adjusted EBITDA of $61.2 million, compared to the prior year period of $52.6 million.¹
  
  

Full Year 2025 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year

• Net sales of $1,102.0 million, an increase of 13.0%.

• Gross margin of 40.8%, compared to the prior year of 40.6%.

• Adjusted Gross Margin of 46.7%, compared to the prior year of 46.5%.¹

• Net income of $139.1 million, compared to the prior year net income of $46.9 million.

• Adjusted EBITDA of $195.7 million, compared to the prior year of $161.8 million.¹

• Free Cash Flow of $12.4 million, compared to the prior year of ($32.8) million.¹
  
  

"Fiscal year 2025 taught us some very important lessons and challenged the resilience of our business and our organization. In the end, our team demonstrated tremendous agility – delivering growth well in excess of the dog food category, surpassing $1 billion in net sales for the first time, expanding margins and achieving positive free cash flow," commented Billy Cyr, Freshpet’s Chief Executive Officer. "Importantly, we strengthened our foundation for future growth. We retooled our marketing model to drive household penetration growth and we are building momentum in e-commerce. We also began testing island fridges – our most significant step change in retail visibility and availability – and we recently started up our first manufacturing line utilizing a breakthrough technology that we believe can enhance both product quality and profitability. We believe these efforts position us well to deliver outsized growth and improve profitability while fulfilling our mission to help dogs and cats live longer, happier and healthier lives with the people who love them."

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_{¹ Adjusted Gross Margin, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted SG&A, Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow are non-GAAP financial measures. See "Non-GAAP Measures" for how the Company defines these measures and the financial tables that accompany this release for reconciliations of these measures to the closest comparable GAAP measures.}

Fourth Quarter 2025

Net sales increased 8.6% to $285.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $262.7 million in the prior year period. The increase in net sales was primarily driven by volume gains of 9.7%, partially offset by unfavorable price/mix of 1.1%.

Gross profit was $123.5 million, or 43.3% as a percentage of net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $111.6 million, or 42.5% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased primarily due to reduced quality costs and improved leverage on plant expenses, partially offset by higher input costs. For the fourth quarter of 2025, Adjusted Gross Profit was $138.1 million, or 48.4% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $126.3 million, or 48.1% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period.¹

Selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) were $79.0 million, or 27.7% as a percentage of net sales, for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $92.2 million, or 35.1% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period. SG&A as a percentage of net sales decreased primarily due to decreased share-based compensation and variable compensation accrual, partially offset by increased media spend as a percentage of net sales. Adjusted SG&A for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $76.9 million, or 27.0% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $73.6 million, or 28.0% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year period.¹

Net income was $33.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $18.1 million in the prior year period. The increase in net income was due to the contribution from higher sales, increase in gross profit, and decreased SG&A expenses, partially offset by the deferred income tax expense in the current year period.

Adjusted EBITDA was $61.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to $52.6 million in the prior year period.¹ The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was a result of increased Adjusted Gross Profit, partially offset by higher Adjusted SG&A.

Full Year 2025

Net sales increased 13.0% to $1,102.0 million for the full year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $975.2 million in the prior year. The increase in net sales was primarily driven by volume gains of 12.0% and favorable price/mix of 1.0%.

Gross profit was $449.6 million, or 40.8% as a percentage of net sales, for the full year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $396.0 million, or 40.6% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased primarily due to lower input costs and reduced quality costs, partially offset by reduced leverage on plant expenses. Adjusted Gross Profit was $515.2 million, or 46.7% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $453.5 million, or 46.5% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year.¹

SG&A expenses were $374.0 million, or 33.9% as a percentage of net sales, for the full year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $358.0 million, or 36.7% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year. SG&A as a percentage of net sales decreased primarily due to decreased share-based compensation and variable compensation accrual, partially offset by increased media spend as a percentage of net sales and higher non-recurring charges in 2025. Adjusted SG&A for the full year ended December 31, 2025 was $319.4 million, or 29.0% as a percentage of net sales, compared to $291.6 million, or 29.9% as a percentage of net sales, in the prior year.¹

Net income was $139.1 million for the full year ended December 31, 2025, compared to net income of $46.9 million in the prior year. The increase in net income was due to a $68.4 million income tax benefit, primarily resulting from the release of the valuation allowance in the current year as a result of sustained profitability and the expected future profitability, and contributions from higher sales, partially offset by increased SG&A, including increased media spend of $29.2 million and $17.7 million of non-recurring charges in 2025, compared to a $9.9 million gain on equity investment in the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA was $195.7 million for the full year ended December 31, 2025, compared to $161.8 million in the prior year.¹ The increase in Adjusted EBITDA was a result of increased Adjusted Gross Profit, partially offset by higher Adjusted SG&A.

Balance Sheet

As of December 31, 2025, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $278.0 million with $397.3 million of debt outstanding, net of $5.2 million of unamortized debt issuance costs. For the year ended December 31, 2025, cash from operations was $160.6 million, an increase of $6.3 million compared to the prior year driven largely by the increase in net sales, partially offset by the higher variable incentive compensation payment in the first quarter of 2025.

The Company will utilize its balance sheet to support its ongoing capital needs in connection with its long-term capacity plan.

Outlook

For full year 2026, the Company is providing the following guidance:

• Net sales growth in the range of 7% to 10% compared to 2025;

• Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $205 million to $215 million; and

• Positive free cash flow with capital expenditures of ~$150 million.
  
  

The Company does not provide guidance for net income, the U.S. GAAP measure most directly comparable to Adjusted EBITDA, and similarly cannot provide a reconciliation between its forecasted Adjusted EBITDA and net income metrics without unreasonable effort due to the unavailability of reliable estimates for certain components of net income and the respective reconciliations, including the timing of and amount of costs of goods sold and selling, general and administrative expenses. These items are not within the Company's control and may vary greatly between periods and could significantly impact future results.

Conference Call & Earnings Presentation Webcast Information
As previously announced, today, February 23, 2026, the Company will host a conference call beginning at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time with members of its leadership team. The conference call webcast will be available live over the Internet through the "Investors" section of the Company's website at www.freshpet.com. To participate on the live call, listeners in North America may dial (877) 407-0792 and international listeners may dial (201) 689-8263; the passcode is 13757975.

About Freshpet
Freshpet's mission is to elevate the way we feed our pets with fresh food that nourishes all. Freshpet foods are blends of fresh meats, vegetables and fruits farmed locally and made at our Freshpet Kitchens. We thoughtfully prepare our foods using natural ingredients, cooking them in small batches at lower temperatures to preserve the natural goodness of the ingredients. Freshpet foods and treats are kept refrigerated from the moment they are made until they arrive at Freshpet Fridges in your local market.

Our foods are available in select grocery, mass, digital, pet specialty, and club retailers across the United States, Canada and Europe, as well as online in the U.S. From the care we take to source our ingredients and make our food, to the moment it reaches your home, our integrity, transparency and social responsibility are the way we like to run our business. To learn more, visit www.freshpet.com.

Connect with Freshpet:

https://www.facebook.com/Freshpet

https://x.com/Freshpet

http://instagram.com/Freshpet

http://pinterest.com/Freshpet

https://www.tiktok.com/@Freshpet

https://www.youtube.com/user/freshpet400

Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on our current expectations and assumptions. These include statements regarding the ability of our new technology to enhance both product quality and profitability, the ability of our 2025 efforts to deliver outsized growth and improve profitability, our ability to fund our long-term capacity plans, be positive free cash flow and our fiscal year 2026 guidance including net sales growth, Adjusted EBITDA and capital expenditures. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, the implementation of our new technologies in the time frame, at the rate, at the cost, or with anticipated efficiencies and impact on product quality we expect, economic uncertainty, changes in rates of pet acquisition, the launch of new competitive products, impact of tariffs and ingredient pricing, effectiveness of media campaigns, success rate of new chillers, and most prominently, the risks discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's latest annual report on Form 10-K and in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release. Freshpet undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement because of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. If we do update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be made that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Freshpet uses the following non-GAAP financial measures in its financial communications. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as supplements to the U.S. GAAP reported measures, should not be considered replacements for, or superior to, the U.S. GAAP measures and may not be comparable to similarly named measures used by other companies.

• Adjusted Gross Profit

• Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of net sales (Adjusted Gross Margin)

• Adjusted SG&A Expenses

• Adjusted SG&A Expenses as a percentage of net sales

• EBITDA

• Adjusted EBITDA

• Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of net sales (Adjusted EBITDA Margin)

• Free Cash Flow
  
  

Adjusted Gross Profit: Freshpet defines Adjusted Gross Profit as gross profit before depreciation expense, non-cash share-based compensation and loss on disposal of manufacturing equipment.

Adjusted SG&A Expenses: Freshpet defines Adjusted SG&A as SG&A expenses before depreciation and amortization expense, non-cash share-based compensation, loss on disposal of equipment, distributor transition costs, legal obligation and international business charges.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA: EBITDA represents net income plus depreciation and amortization expense, interest expense net of interest income and income tax (benefit) expense, and Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA less gain on equity investment, plus non-cash share-based compensation expense, loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, distributor transition costs, legal obligation, and international business charges.

Free Cash Flow: Freshpet defines Free Cash Flow as net cash flows provided by operating activities less capital expenditures.

Management believes that the non-GAAP financial measures are meaningful to investors because they provide a view of the Company with respect to ongoing operating results. The non-GAAP financial measures are shown as supplemental disclosures in this release because they are widely used by the investment community for analysis and comparative evaluation. They also provide additional metrics to evaluate the Company’s operations and, when considered with both the Company’s GAAP results and the reconciliation to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures, provide a more complete understanding of the Company’s business than could be obtained absent this disclosure. The non-GAAP measures are not and should not be considered an alternative to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures or any other figure calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, or as an indicator of operating performance. The Company’s calculation of the non-GAAP financial measures may differ from methods used by other companies. Management believes that the non-GAAP measures are important to an understanding of the Company's overall operating results in the periods presented. The non-GAAP financial measures are not recognized in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should not be viewed as an alternative to U.S. GAAP measures of performance.

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_{² Capital expenditures is equivalent to the amount included in "Acquisitions of property, plant and equipment, software and deposits on equipment" on our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the reported period.}

CONTACT: Investor Contact: Rachel Ulsh [email protected] Media Contact: [email protected]