Kraft Heinz Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) manufactures and markets food and beverage products. With a market cap of $29.1 billion, the company distributes dairy products, sauces, flavored milk powders, and other products.

Shares of this food giant have underperformed the broader market over the past year. KHC has gained marginally over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied nearly 10.5%. In 2026, KHC stock is up 1.1%, compared to the SPX’s 10.6% gains on a YTD basis. 

Narrowing the focus, KHC’s underperformance is also apparent compared to First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF (FTXG). The exchange-traded fund has gained about 9.7% over the past year. Moreover, the ETF’s 8.7% gains on a YTD basis outshine the stock’s returns over the same time frame.

KHC has underperformed primarily due to a shrinking core business characterized by persistent volume declines in North America, flat pricing power, and shifting consumer preferences away from traditional packaged foods toward value-oriented or private-label alternatives. Additionally, investor sentiment has been weighed down by margin compression from cost inflation, massive non-cash impairment charges, and a sluggish turnaround timeline under its leadership restructuring, causing the stock to lag the broader equity market. 

Today, KHC reported its Q3 results. Its adjusted EPS of $0.53 topped Wall Street expectations of $0.43. The company’s revenue was $6.12 billion, exceeding Wall Street forecasts of $6.06 billion. KHC expects full-year adjusted EPS in the range of $2.07 to $2.13.

For the current fiscal year, ending in December, analysts expect KHC’s EPS to decline 21.2% to $2.05 on a diluted basis. The company’s earnings surprise history is impressive. It beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters.

Among the 20 analysts covering KHC stock, the consensus is a “Hold.” That’s based on one “Strong Buy” rating, one “Moderate Buy,” 14 “Holds,” one “Moderate Sell,” and three “Strong Sells.”

This configuration is less bullish than two months ago, with no analyst suggesting a “Moderate Buy.”

On Oct. 21, Bernstein analyst Alexia Burland Howard maintained a “Sell” rating on KHC and set a price target of $21.

While KHC currently trades above its mean price target of $23.89, the Street-high price target of $32 suggests an upside potential of 30.5%. 

On the date of publication, Neha Panjwani did not directly have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.