At a glance
Post Holdings Inc is worth $3.53B, about 15 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 3.0% to $8.16B in fiscal 2025, with 4.1% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 11.6% a year. It pays no dividend; it spent $2.24B buying back its shares over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned −24.9% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +3.8% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 32.9% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 17.2% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 12 months and 2 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Post Holdings is a packaged-food holding company. It owns a group of food businesses, many of them bought over the years, and lets each one run fairly independently. It sells cereal, eggs, pet food, potato side dishes, peanut butter, sausage and cheese. Some carry its own brands and some are private label (store-brand) products. Buyers include retailers, foodservice operators (businesses that serve meals away from home) and food makers that use its egg and potato ingredients. Sales were $8.16 billion in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Cereal and granola made up 32.4% of that, eggs and egg products 29.6% and pet food 19.2%.
Post Consumer Brands brought in 49.3% of fiscal 2025 sales, mostly in North America. It makes cereals such as Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles and Malt-O-Meal, pet foods such as Nutrish, 9Lives and Kibbles 'n Bits, and Peter Pan peanut butter. Foodservice (32.4%) supplies egg and potato products, led by the Papetti's egg brand. Refrigerated Retail (11.7%) sells Bob Evans side dishes and sausage, Simply Potatoes, Egg Beaters and Crystal Farms cheese to stores. Weetabix (6.6%) is a leading U.K. cereal maker with the Weetabix and Alpen brands.
In July 2025 Post bought the rest of 8th Avenue, a pasta and nut butter maker. A month later it agreed to sell 8th Avenue's pasta business.
Price history
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POST -24.9% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Cereal and granola | $2.65B | 32.4% |
| Eggs and egg products | $2.41B | 29.6% |
| Pet Food | $1.57B | 19.2% |
| Side dishes (including potato products) | $748.9M | 9.2% |
| Nut butters | $179.3M | 2.2% |
| Other | $178.9M | 2.2% |
| Sausage | $166.4M | 2% |
| Cheese and dairy | $155.0M | 1.9% |
| Protein-based products | $103.6M | 1.3% |
By business segment
| Post Consumer Brands Segment | $4.02B | 49.3% |
| Foodservice Segment | $2.64B | 32.4% |
| Refrigerated Retail Segment | $953.3M | 11.7% |
| Weetabix Segment | $542.2M | 6.6% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $1.95B, down 1.8% from a year earlier, and net income was $63.4M (-41.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $8.16B (+3.0% year over year; +11.6% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 4.1% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +11.6% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 9.8% watch |
| Free cash flow margin | 6% watch |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 8.9% watch |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 2.5% weak |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-7.41B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $4.71B | $800K | $393.1M |
| FY2021 | $4.98B | $166.7M | $397.3M |
| FY2022 | $5.85B | $756.6M | $127.3M |
| FY2023 | $6.99B | $301.3M | $447.3M |
| FY2024 | $7.92B | $366.7M | $502.2M |
| FY2025 | $8.16B | $335.7M | $488.1M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.53B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 14.6 |
| Dividend yield | None |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Post Holdings’s market value went from $3.41B at the end of 2016 to $3.53B on Oct 28, 2026, up 4%; since the end of 2025 it is down 32%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.53B | -31.7% |
| 2025 | $5.17B | -22.8% |
| 2024 | $6.69B | +25.9% |
| 2023 | $5.31B | +0.5% |
| 2022 | $5.29B | +14.8% |
| 2021 | $4.61B | +6.0% |
| 2020 | $4.35B | -13.8% |
| 2019 | $5.04B | +30.0% |
| 2018 | $3.88B | +13.3% |
| 2017 | $3.42B | +0.4% |
| 2016 | $3.41B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POST price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -18.9% | -24.9% | -0.1% | +3.8% | +4.8% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -18.9% |
| 2025 | -13.5% |
| 2024 | +30.0% |
| 2023 | -2.4% |
| 2022 | +22.5% |
| 2021 | +11.6% |
| 2020 | -7.4% |
| 2019 | +22.4% |
| 2018 | +12.5% |
| 2017 | -1.4% |
| 2016 | +30.3% |
| 2015 | +47.3% |
| 2014 | -15.0% |
| 2013 | +43.9% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Before this security existed |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 32.9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 32.9%, back to its old high 11.9 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Gained 14.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 17.2%, back to its old high 1.5 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 4 sales ($32.3M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 2026 | William P Stiritz Chairman Emeritus | sell | $23.4M |
| Sep 1, 2026 | William P Stiritz Chairman Emeritus | sell | $8.4M |
| Sep 1, 2026 | William P Stiritz Chairman Emeritus | sell | $525K |
| Sep 2, 2026 | William P Stiritz Chairman Emeritus | sell | $19K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Route One Investment Company, L.P. | 6.5% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors LP | 6.4% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.09% | Sep 30, 2026 |
| Clarkston Capital Partners, LLC | 2.63% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in POST
| FXG First Trust Consumer Staples AlphaDEX Fund | 3.4% |
| PBJ Invesco Food & Beverage ETF | 2.87% |
| HSMV First Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Small/Mid ETF | 2.21% |
| FTXG First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF | 2.09% |
| GURU Global X Guru Index ETF | 1.54% |
| XMLV Invesco S&P MidCap Low Volatility ETF | 1.54% |
| SMMV iShares MSCI USA Small-Cap Min Vol Factor ETF | 1.17% |
| USVM VictoryShares US Small Mid Cap Value Momentum ETF | 0.8% |
What could go wrong
- A mature, weakening cereal market. Cereal and granola made up 32.4% of sales in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Post's 10-K calls ready-to-eat cereal a mature category, and further weakening could hurt sales and profits.
- Bird flu can hit the egg business. Eggs and egg products made up 29.6% of fiscal 2025 sales. Outbreaks of bird flu (highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI) happen periodically and can squeeze egg supply and push up costs.
- Heavy debt and high leverage. As of June 30, 2026, Post owed about $7.68 billion and held $266 million in cash. With that much borrowing, higher interest costs, strict loan terms (covenants) or a credit downgrade could strain its finances.
- Growth depends on buying other companies. Post's strategy depends on acquisitions, such as buying the rest of 8th Avenue in July 2025. Good deals may not come along, and bought businesses can be hard to fold in or can disappoint.
- Possible tax bill from the BellRing split. Post handed out and sold its stake in BellRing Brands, its former active nutrition business, in fiscal 2022 and 2023. If those deals don't get their intended tax treatment, Post could owe large taxes.
- Swings in ingredient, freight and tariff costs. Prices for ingredients, packaging, energy and freight move with inflation, tariffs and weather. Hedges (contracts that lock in prices) don't always work, and Post can't always raise prices fast enough to protect margins.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Code of ethics changed
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement; Other company announcement
- New debt or financial obligation
- Other company announcement
- Quarterly results released; Executive or board change; Other company announcement
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Change to shareholder rights; Bylaws or fiscal year changed; Shareholder vote results
- New debt or financial obligation; Other company announcement
- Other company announcement
For income and retirement investors
Post Holdings does not pay a regular cash dividend. It paid no cash dividends at all from fiscal 2021 to 2025, so there is no dividend streak or payout ratio to track. Income investors would need to sell shares for cash. In fiscal 2022, shareholders received BellRing Brands shares when Post handed out about 80% of its remaining stake. Instead of dividends, Post returns cash through buybacks, meaning it repurchases its own stock. It spent $2.24 billion on buybacks over fiscal 2021–2025, including $709 million in fiscal 2025. Shares outstanding fell 29.7%, from about 62.5 million in November 2021 to about 44.0 million in August 2026.
In the 2020 COVID crash the stock fell 32.9% and took about 12 months to recover. During the 2022 bear market it gained 14.6% while the broad market fell, though it dipped 17.2% along the way. As of October 28, 2026, it was down 24.9% over one year. A single stock carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
Does Post Holdings pay a dividend?
No. Post Holdings does not pay a regular cash dividend, and it paid no cash dividends from fiscal 2021 to 2025. Instead it buys back its own shares. It spent $2.24 billion on buybacks over those five years, including $709 million in fiscal 2025. Shares outstanding fell 29.7% between November 2021 and August 2026. In fiscal 2022, shareholders received BellRing Brands shares when Post handed out about 80% of its remaining stake. Investors who want income from Post would need to sell shares.
How does Post Holdings make money?
Post Holdings makes and sells packaged foods to retailers, foodservice operators and food makers. Sales were $8.16 billion in the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Cereal and granola made up 32.4% of sales, eggs and egg products 29.6%, pet food 19.2% and side dishes, including potato products, 9.2%. By segment, Post Consumer Brands brought in 49.3%, Foodservice 32.4%, Refrigerated Retail 11.7% and Weetabix 6.6%. Net income was $335.7 million, about 4 cents of profit per dollar of sales.
What brands does Post Holdings sell?
Post's core cereal brands are Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles and Malt-O-Meal in North America. It also sells Weetabix and Alpen, mainly in the U.K. and the European Union. Its pet foods include Nutrish, 9Lives and Kibbles 'n Bits, and it makes Peter Pan peanut butter. In the refrigerated aisle it sells Bob Evans side dishes and sausage, Simply Potatoes, Egg Beaters and Crystal Farms cheese. Papetti's is its main foodservice egg brand, and its UFIT protein shakes sell in the U.K. It also makes many private label (store-brand) products.
How much debt does Post Holdings have?
Post owed about $7.68 billion as of June 30, 2026, which is large for a company of its size. Cash and investments were $265.6 million, so net debt (debt minus cash) was about $7.41 billion. Shareholders' equity was $3.08 billion. As of October 28, 2026, the stock market valued all of its shares at about $3.53 billion. Post's 10-K lists its heavy debt as a risk, because interest costs and loan covenants (conditions set by lenders) can limit its options.
How has Post Holdings stock performed?
The stock fell sharply over the past year and rose modestly over longer periods. As of October 28, 2026, the share price was down 24.9% over one year and 18.9% year to date. Over five years it rose about 3.8% a year (20% in total). Over ten years it rose about 4.8% a year (60% in total). In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, sales fell 1.8% and net income fell 41.7% from a year earlier. On October 28, 2026, the shares traded at 14.6 times fiscal 2025 earnings.