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Bear of the Day: BellRing Brands (BRBR)

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BellRing Brands provides nutrition products in the United States. The company offers ready-to-drink protein shakes and beverages, protein powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands.

Key challenges remain for BellRing in 2026 including changes in customer purchasing behavior and a lack of pricing power. Weak consumption growth remains the biggest unanswered question in the broader consumer staples sector. A difficult macroeconomic environment and lingering inflationary conditions do not bode well for the company’s outlook.

As we’ll see, earnings are expected to decline in the current fiscal year. BellRing faces intense competition as consumers remain focused on health and navigate toward nutritional supplements.

The Zacks Rundown

A Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock, BellRing Brands (BRBR - Free Report) is a component of the Zacks Food – Miscellaneous industry group, which currently ranks in the bottom 14% out of approximately 250 Zacks Ranked Industries. As such, we expect this industry group as a whole to underperform the market over the next 3 to 6 months, just as it has throughout the past year:

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Stocks in the bottom tiers of industries can often be intriguing short candidates. While individual stocks have the ability to outperform even when they’re part of a lagging industry, the inclusion in a weaker group serves as a headwind for any potential rallies and the journey forward is that much more difficult.

Stocks in this industry are expected to experience below average earnings growth, so it’s no surprise that BRBR shares have been underperforming the market over the past year. The stock hit a 52-week low earlier in January even as the major U.S. indexes hover near all-time highs.

Recent Earnings Miss & Deteriorating Outlook

Back in November, BellRing broke a long streak of earnings beats after the company posted third-quarter earnings of 51 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by nearly 6%. Falling short of earnings estimates is a recipe for underperformance, and BRBR is no exception.

The nutritional product provider has been on the receiving end of negative earnings estimate revisions as of late. Looking at the latest quarter, analysts slashed estimates by -11.11% in the past 60 days. The Q4 Zacks Consensus EPS Estimate is now 32 cents per share, reflecting negative growth of -44.8% relative to the same period in the prior year.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Falling earnings estimates are a huge red flag and need to be respected. Negative growth year-over-year is the type of trend that bears like to see.

Technical Outlook

As illustrated below, BRBR stock is in a sustained downtrend. Notice how the stock has been widely underperforming the major indices. Also note that shares are trading below downward-sloping 50-day (blue line) and 200-day (red line) moving averages – another good sign for the bears.

StockCharts
Image Source: StockCharts

BRBR stock has experienced what is known as a “death cross,” whereby the stock’s 50-day moving average crosses below its 200-day moving average. Shares would have to make an outsized move to the upside and show increasing earnings estimate revisions to warrant taking any long positions. The stock has fallen more than 60% in the past nine months alone.

Final Thoughts

A deteriorating fundamental and technical backdrop show that this stock is not set to make its way to new highs anytime soon. The fact that BRBR stock is included in one of the worst-performing industry groups adds yet another headwind to a long list of concerns.

A recent earnings miss and falling future earnings estimates will likely serve as a ceiling to any potential rallies, nurturing the stock’s downtrend.

Potential investors may want to give this stock the cold shoulder, or perhaps include it as part of a short or hedge strategy. Bulls will want to steer clear of BRBR until the situation shows major signs of improvement.


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