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what it is
Weis Markets is a regional grocery chain selling food through 198 stores across seven Mid-Atlantic states.
how it gets paid
Last year Weis Markets made $5.0B in revenue. Pennsylvania stores was the main engine at $3.03B, or 61% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 3.5% last year. Barring an uptick in food price inflation, such as occurred in 2022, when weis enjoyed its most profitable year, we anticipate that low-single-digit revenue growth.
what just happened
The quarter's problem was simple: earnings landed at $0.74 vs. a $1.00 estimate, and the market noticed.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
75/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
18.8x trailing p/e — priced about right
2.2% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
7.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 61/100 — average
What they do
Weis Markets is a regional grocery chain selling food through 198 stores across seven Mid-Atlantic states.
This is a neighborhood habit business. Weis owns about 50% of its sites and runs 198 stores, so your weekly milk-and-eggs trip stays inside its box. Return on capital (profit earned on money used in the business) was 7.5% in the latest data, so what: this is steady, local, and hard to scale fast, but it is not a cash machine.
How they make money
$5.0B
annual revenue · their business grew +3.5% last year
Pennsylvania stores
$3.03B
Maryland stores
$1.24B
Virginia stores
$0.23B
New York stores
$0.20B
New Jersey, Delaware, and West Virginia stores
$0.30B
The products that matter
sells groceries and general merchandise
Grocery Merchandise
$4.25B revenue · 85% of sales
it's the $4.25B core business and 85% of total sales. if traffic slips or price competition gets worse here, the whole model feels it.
85% of sales
runs pharmacy and fuel services
Pharmacy and Fuel
$500M revenue · about 10% of sales
this roughly $500M segment adds convenience and repeat visits, but it is still much smaller than the grocery aisle. useful support, not the main earnings engine.
basket builder
Key numbers
2.2%
net margin
Weis keeps just 2.2 cents from each sales dollar, which means a tiny operating mistake can eat a lot of profit.
$5.0B
annual revenue
This is a large sales base for a $2 billion company, but scale alone does not help much when margins are this thin.
18.8x
trailing p/e
You are paying 18.8 times trailing earnings for a grocery chain with projected earnings growth of just 3.5%.
7.5%
return on capital
Return on capital means profit earned on the money used in the business, so what: 7.5% says steady operator, not elite compounder.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 75 / 100
- net profit margin 2.2% — keeps 2 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 8% — $0.08 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in WMK 3 years ago → it's now worth $8,250.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The quarter's problem was simple: earnings landed at $0.74 vs. a $1.00 estimate, and the market noticed.
Yahoo Finance shows the latest reported EPS missed by 26.0%. EDGAR-backed figures show revenue of $3.7 billion, EPS of $0.69, and gross margin of 8.4%, which keeps the same message: sales moved, profits did not.
$3.7B
revenue
$0.69
eps
8.4%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was the 26.0% earnings miss, because a low-growth grocer does not get much patience when profit comes in light.
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revenues at weis markets have been edging ahead at a modest clip.as is the case with most established supermarket operators, new store development hasn’t been a top priority, with the number of stores in operation changing little over the better part of a decade.
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meanwhile, top-line growth at established locations has been unremarkable.
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most recently, comparable-store sales advanced 2.5%, which represents one of the retailer’s strongest performances in the last two years.barring an uptick in food price inflation, such as occurred in 2022, when weis enjoyed its most profitable year, we anticipate that low-single-digit revenue growth will remain the norm.
-
profits likely took a sizable step back in 2025.
-
earnings through the september quarter totaled $2.51 per share, down 10% from $2.80 in the prior-year period.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is margin compression in a 1.8% net margin grocery business.
med
grocery margin compression
Weis generated a 1.8% net profit margin on $5.0B of revenue, and last quarter that margin was just 1.4%. When margins are this thin, higher labor, transportation, or promotional costs show up fast.
A 1-point margin swing on $5.0B of revenue is roughly $50M. That's huge for a business this size.
med
limited unit growth
The company operated 198 stores at the end of 2024, and the footprint has changed little over the better part of a decade. If comparable-store sales cool, there is not much new-store growth to bail you out.
With revenue growth already at 3.5% last year, a slower comp base can leave you with very little top-line expansion.
med
pricing and input-cost pressure
This is a regional grocer. Competitive pricing, supply-chain friction, or tariffs on imported goods can squeeze gross profit even if sales hold steady.
The business kept about 2 cents of every revenue dollar last year. There is not much room for error.
med
legal overhang
A Pomerantz law firm securities-fraud investigation is an overhang, but the page gives very little detail beyond the existence of the investigation. That makes it worth monitoring, not thesis-defining on its own.
Thin facts mean thin conviction here. Until more is known, the operational risks matter more.
At $5.0B in revenue and a 1.8% net margin, Weis does not need a collapse to disappoint you. It only needs costs to rise faster than prices for a few quarters.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
net margin
1.8% for the full year and 1.4% last quarter tells you almost everything. If that slips again, earnings pressure follows fast.
trend
comparable-store sales
The latest comparable-store sales figure was 2.5%. That's solid for Weis. You want to see whether that pace holds.
calendar
next earnings print
After $0.69 in quarterly EPS and a 24% decline from a year ago, the next report needs to show stabilization, not just another small beat.
risk
securities investigation updates
The disclosed Pomerantz investigation is thin on detail here, but any formal development would matter more than the headline alone.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
Momentum score 3. In human-speak, analysts do not see a strong near-term edge here.
risk profile
average
Stability score 3 means middle-of-the-pack risk. Safer than plenty of retailers, but not a bunker stock.
chart momentum
average
Technical score 3 says the chart is not doing anything dramatic. No breakout story. No panic either.
earnings predictability
75 / 100
The business is usually readable. The issue is not wild volatility — it's that the trend is modest.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
74 buyers vs. 100 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 10.4M shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$52
$101
$65
current price
$77
target midpoint · +19% from current · 3-5yr high: $105 (+60% · 14% ann'l return)
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