Vital Farms Cuts Fiscal 2026 Revenue Outlook After Sequential Rebound

The Tip Desk · November 10, 2026 · 3 min read

The egg producer now expects fiscal 2026 net revenue of around $730 million and an Adjusted EBITDA loss of around $15 million, after third-quarter revenue of $182.2 million.

Vital Farms (VITL), a Certified B Corporation that sells ethically produced foods, reported third-quarter net revenue of $182.2 million for the 13 weeks ended September 27, 2026, a sequential increase of 9.7% from the second quarter that the company said was the expected trough.

Year over year, revenue still declined 8.4% from $198.9 million, after a 10.1% year-over-year drop to $166.0 million in the second quarter. The company said the year-over-year decrease was driven primarily by a $14.3 million price/mix decline and a $2.2 million volume-driven decline excluding breaker and wholesale channels. Breaker and wholesale sales contributed $0.3 million to the decline as a large volume increase was almost entirely offset by a price decline. Retail-channel net revenue was $175.1 million.

Gross margin recovered from 6.6% in the second quarter to 23.1%, compared with 37.7% a year earlier. Gross profit was $42.1 million. The company said the year-over-year decrease reflected higher input and production costs and unfavorable sales mix, with oversupply-driven breaker and wholesale sales at lower prices reducing gross profit by $7.9 million.

The company swung to a $6.5 million net loss, or $0.15 a share, from net income of $16.4 million, or $0.36 a share, a year earlier, after a $31.1 million net loss, or $0.72 a share, in the second quarter. Loss from operations was $7.7 million, compared with income from operations of $21.4 million a year earlier. The company said the operating decrease was driven primarily by higher input and production costs and unfavorable sales mix, partially offset by tighter spending controls.

Adjusted EBITDA was $1.5 million, compared with $27.4 million a year earlier, and improved $28.1 million sequentially from the second quarter’s $26.6 million loss. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 0.8%. The company said the year-over-year decrease was driven primarily by higher input and production expenses and unfavorable sales mix.

Executive Chairperson, President and CEO Russell Diez-Canseco said third quarter represented a meaningful sequential improvement from the second quarter, consistent with the company’s previously communicated expectation that the second quarter would be the trough. He said net revenue and Adjusted EBITDA both improved sequentially, distribution expanded, the company reached record dollar and volume share of the shell egg category, and it made progress reducing excess supply and lowering its cost structure.

Diez-Canseco said the company achieved the distribution gains it expected, although some of that distribution came on shelf later than planned, and that it is taking a more conservative view of its near-term velocity contribution.

For fiscal year 2026, Vital Farms now expects net revenue of around $730 million, compared with a prior outlook of $775 million to $800 million, and an Adjusted EBITDA loss of around $15 million, compared with a prior outlook of a gain between $0 and $10 million. The company said the updated outlook reflects later-than-anticipated timing of certain new distribution placements, a more conservative assumption for their near-term velocity contribution, and no assumed seasonal uplift in demand or conventional egg pricing. Capital expenditure outlook of $70 million to $75 million was reaffirmed.

The company withdrew previously issued fiscal 2030 financial targets and said it expects to revisit long-term targets once it has made more progress expanding margins and improving profitability.

Chief Financial Officer Thilo Wrede said the company continues to expect sequential improvement in the fourth quarter compared with the third, supported by lower anticipated breaker and supply-management costs, the benefit of recent distribution gains and structural cost actions.

Cash and cash equivalents were $84.0 million as of September 27, 2026, with $117.6 million of outstanding debt.