Start here if you're new
what it is
Tootsie Roll makes familiar candy brands and turns a $733 million sales base into steady profits and a small dividend.
how it gets paid
Last year Tootsie Roll made $733M in revenue. Chocolate candy brands was the main engine at $205M, or 28% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 1.3% last year. For the first nine months of 2025, EPS rose 12.6% to $0.98 from $0.87, helped by modest sales growth, lower cost of goods sold, and.
what just happened
The latest print was messy: revenue hit $536M, but the last reported earnings figure also came in below expectations.
At a glance
A balance sheet — strong enough to weather a downturn
95/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
28.5x trailing p/e — priced about right
0.9% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
12.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 72/100 — average
What they do
Tootsie Roll makes familiar candy brands and turns a $733 million sales base into steady profits and a small dividend.
You already know the brands, and that matters more in candy than analysts like to admit. Tootsie Roll posts an 18.0% operating margin, or profit after running the business, so what: familiar brands still let it charge enough to protect earnings. International is only 8.6% of 2024 sales, which means the company still has room to sell the same sugar in more places.
How they make money
$733M
annual revenue · their business grew +1.3% last year
Chocolate candy brands
$205M
Lollipops and pops
$183M
Bubble gum
$139M
Mints
$110M
Chewy and sugar candy
$96M
The products that matter
flagship candy brands
Tootsie Roll & Tootsie Pops
core to a $733M revenue base
these are the brands most people know first, and they anchor the shelf presence that supports the full $733M business.
brand core
portfolio support brands
Charms, Blow-Pops, Dots
sold in 75+ countries
these brands broaden distribution and keep the portfolio relevant across channels, helping the company turn a mature candy lineup into sales across more than 75 countries.
distribution breadth
Key numbers
28.5x
trailing p/e
You are paying a premium for consistency. That leaves less room for mistakes in a business growing sales 1.3% lately.
18.0%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. So what: this candy maker is still efficient.
$8M
long-term debt
That is almost nothing for a company with a roughly $3B market cap. So what: balance-sheet stress is not the issue.
95
earnings predictability
That score says profits usually show up without drama. So what: you are buying steadiness, not surprise upside.
Financial health
A
strength
- balance sheet grade A — very strong financial position
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 75 / 100
- long-term debt $8M (0% of capital)
- net profit margin 14.3% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 12% — $0.12 profit for every $1 investors have put in
A — among the top-rated companies for balance sheet quality.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in TR 3 years ago → it's now worth $9,780.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The latest print was messy: revenue hit $536M, but the last reported earnings figure also came in below expectations.
For the first nine months of 2025, EPS rose 12.6% to $0.98 from $0.87, helped by modest sales growth, lower cost of goods sold, and fewer shares outstanding. The consensus snapshot also shows the last earnings report missed estimates, which tells you the data set is improving but not perfectly clean.
$536M
revenue
$0.98
eps
35.1%
gross margin
the number that mattered
EPS of $0.98 for the first nine months matters because it was up 12.6% vs. prior year while sales only increased modestly.
-
earnings for tootsie roll industries likely took a turn for the better in 2025.
-
through the first nine months, the bottom line climbed 12.6%, to $0.98 per share, compared to the $0.87 tally that was posted for the same period the prior year.that stemmed, to some extent, from a substantial rise in ``other income, net,'' partly reflecting higher income from investments in marketable securities.
-
a slight decline in both cost of goods sold and the number of shares outstanding also helped somewhat.
-
sales increased modestly during the period, too.however, the top line remained under pressure by less-than-optimal business conditions, marked by elevated cocoa and chocolate costs. to deal with the situation, the company implemented price hikes, but consumers became more resistant to these actions.
-
still, per-share profits were around $1.30 for the full year.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is ingredient cost inflation in a 13.6% margin candy business.
med
sugar and cocoa cost pressure
The full $733M revenue base depends on turning commodity inputs into inexpensive candy. When sugar, cocoa, or packaging costs move, a 13.6% net margin gives you less room than the fortress balance sheet suggests.
If costs rise faster than pricing, margin compression is the first place you will see it.
med
health, labeling, and ingredient regulation
This is a candy company selling into a world that gets more label-conscious every year. Changes to ingredient rules, packaging standards, or disclosure requirements can raise compliance costs across products sold in more than 75 countries.
The issue is not existential. It is a slow bleed of cost and complexity into a business growing just 1.3%.
med
mature category, limited growth
The quiet part: 1.3% revenue growth does not leave much room for mistakes. If volumes soften or shelf space slips, there is no high-growth segment elsewhere in the portfolio to bail out the story.
A stock at 28.5x earnings can handle slow growth. It struggles with no growth.
med
leadership transition risk
Karen Gordon Mills became president in June 2025. For a stable business, that sounds minor. In practice, execution discipline is the thesis, so any change at the top deserves attention.
When the bull case is reliability, even small operational slippage matters more than it would at a faster-growing company.
TR can absorb shocks better than most because long-term debt is just $8M, but slow 1.3% sales growth means any cost pressure shows up quickly in earnings quality.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
net margin versus the 13.6% baseline
This is the number that protects the premium multiple. If margins start sliding, the stock stops looking defensive and starts looking expensive.
risk
ingredient and packaging cost moves
Sugar, cocoa, and packaging inflation matter more here than flashy product launches. This is still a candy margin story.
trend
revenue growth above 1.3%
You want proof that sales can do better than crawl. Even a small acceleration would matter because expectations are low.
calendar
the next earnings release
This is where you find out whether the recent mix of stable margins and slow growth is still intact.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 means the stock is acting like the market, not fighting it. in human-speak, analysts do not see a near-term catalyst either way.
risk profile
above average safety
stability score 2 means TR has historically been safer than roughly 80% of stocks. This is balance-sheet quality showing up in the rankings.
chart momentum
top 5%
technical score 1 is the highest rating. The chart looks stronger than the business, which is a very real thing in defensive stocks.
earnings predictability
95 / 100
Predictability this high means fewer surprises. If you own TR, you are paying for numbers that tend to arrive quietly and on schedule.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 114 buyers vs. 70 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 14.0M shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$30
$49
$37
current price
$40
target midpoint · +8% from current · 3-5yr high: $50 (+35% · 9% ann'l return)
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