Buda Juice (BUDA) Q3 2026 earnings review
Buda Juice sales jump 64%, but taxes keep profit flat
Buda Juice, a maker of fresh supermarket juice, now sells far more, but costs and taxes held back its profit. Sales jumped 64%, chief executive Horatio Lonsdale-Hands said, because 246 new Walmart stores and a dressings business added to gains at existing shops. Net income barely moved, because Buda now pays corporate tax and public-company costs. Gross margin recovered to about 41% from a weak spring.
| Sales at existing stores, core drinks | +23% from a year ago |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.2M +64% from a year ago |
| Profit before tax | $1.1M +28% from a year ago |
| Outlook | None given Dressings production moves to Dallas from early 2027 |
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢 Bullish
The story got better, because Buda's push beyond Texas now shows clearly in its sales. One caution: customers owed Buda $2.3 million at the end of September, about six times the December figure, so less profit turned into cash.
The question now is whether gross margin can return to last year's mid-40s. If an outside firm's fees for making dressings caused most of the gap, it can; if fuel and fruit prices did, it may not. Margin in the first quarter of 2027, when dressings production moves to Dallas, will tell.
🐂 Bull Case
Walmart and Dressings Lifted Sales 64%
Buda Juice spent the spring taking its drinks beyond Texas, its historical home market. Walmart began stocking them in 246 stores across nine states, and the juice maker bought a refrigerated dressings business in May. The third quarter was the first full one for both.
"What is particularly encouraging is what is driving this growth," chief executive Horatio Lonsdale-Hands said, pointing to Walmart, the dressings and existing stores. Sales of core drinks at existing stores rose 23%, so the base business grew on its own, not only through new shelves.
- Total sales growth: 64%, against 26% in the second quarter by our math
- Growth from new stores and dressings: roughly 41 percentage points, by our math
- Stores carrying Buda products: about 600
Still, most of the gain came from new shelves and a purchase, which lift growth mainly in their first year. Buda declined in May to say how much Walmart adds, and the release names no new grocer, although Lonsdale-Hands said then that others could follow.
What to watch: same-store sales in the next quarterly report. From next spring Walmart and the dressings join the year-ago base, so that figure will show how much demand the core business holds.
IPO Cash Funds New Dallas Production Lines
Buda Juice raised $23 million in January by selling shares to the public for the first time. At the end of September it still held $19.3 million in cash, with no debt and an unused $3 million credit line.
The juice maker is spending part of that money on "additional production lines" at its Dallas plant, so it can make its dressings itself. Capital spending so far this year reached 7% of sales, against 3% a year earlier. Because cash pays for the work, the build-out carries no interest cost, and interest on the cash brought in $139,000 this quarter.
What to watch: the cash balance at year-end, set against capital spending. A balance that holds near today's level would mean the plant upgrade costs Buda nothing in borrowing or new shares.
🐻 Bear Case
Customers Owe Buda Far More Than Before
Chief executive Horatio Lonsdale-Hands calls Buda Juice "a profitable operating business", and the income statement agrees. But at the end of September buyers owed the juice maker $2.3 million, against $0.4 million in December.
Growth explains part of this, because a larger business sends out more bills. Yet these receivables, money owed for goods already delivered, climbed far faster than sales. A related party, a business tied to company insiders, owes a large share, and the release does not name it.
- Receivables: 44% of quarterly sales, against 14% at the end of March
- Owed by the related party: $790,000, about 35% of receivables
- Cash from operations so far this year: $1.65 million, down 38%
This cuts against the profit story. By our math, operations used cash in the second quarter, and the third brought in only about $0.7 million on $0.9 million of net income.
What to watch: receivables and the related-party balance in the year-end accounts. A further climb would mean more of Buda's new sales stay unpaid on its balance sheet instead of turning into cash.
Gross Margin Still Trails Last Year
In May, finance chief Clint Bowers expected gross margin above 40% in the second quarter, once a jump in fruit costs had passed. By our math, that quarter came in near 37%. The third quarter reached 40.8%, which Buda credited to the "normalization of certain produce costs and operational efficiencies".
Cost of goods sold took 59.2% of sales, 3.7 percentage points more than a year earlier. Buda blamed "interim third-party co-packing costs", the fees it pays an outside firm to make its new dressings, and "increased diesel fuel costs".
What to watch: gross margin in the first quarter of 2027, when Buda plans to start making dressings in Dallas. A move back toward last year's 44.5% would show that the outside firm's fees, not fuel, caused most of the gap.
Overhead Grew Faster Than Sales
Selling, general and administrative costs, the overhead of running Buda Juice, more than doubled from a year ago to $925,000. The juice maker said the rise "primarily reflects costs associated with operating as a public company and non-cash stock-based compensation".
- Overhead: 17.8% of sales, up 5.2 percentage points from a year ago
- Stock awards to staff: $237,000, against none a year ago
- Operating margin: 19.1%, against 27.5% a year ago
The release points instead to the second quarter, when total operating costs took 26.8% of sales. By our math, overhead dollars also fell from that quarter, so spending restraint helped as well as the jump in sales.
What to watch: overhead as a share of sales in the fourth quarter. A level near this quarter's would mean the public-company costs have become a fixed part of Buda's cost base, which only further sales growth can absorb.
👓 Other Themes
Corporate Tax Takes a Quarter of Pre-Tax Profit
On January 1, Buda Juice converted to a C corporation, which made it subject to federal corporate income tax. Income tax took $274,000 this quarter, about 24% of profit before tax. A year earlier the tax bill was close to nothing, so net income stayed level even as pre-tax profit rose.
Lime and Diesel Prices Moved Buda's Costs
Buda Juice makes citrus juices and lemonades from fresh fruit and delivers them chilled to stores. In May, finance chief Clint Bowers said supply trouble in western Mexico had raised lime costs by roughly 300%. The company now says produce costs have normalized, but it named higher diesel prices as a drag on this quarter's gross margin. It gave no figure for either.
Buda Now Sells Refrigerated Dressings
In May Buda Juice bought a refrigerated dressings business, adding dressings to its citrus juices, lemonades and wellness shots. The third quarter was the first full one with dressings in the numbers, but the release does not break out their sales. Chief executive Horatio Lonsdale-Hands said the business is "broadening our product portfolio".
💲 Other KPIs
This profit measure, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and stock awards, rose 35% from a year ago after dipping in the first quarter. As a share of sales it slipped to 25.1% from 30.5%, because production and overhead costs took a bigger slice of the larger business.
Inventory, the goods Buda holds before sale, climbed to $721,000 from $445,000 in March. It moved roughly in step with sales, at 13.8% of quarterly revenue against 12.7% in the first quarter. Unlike receivables, inventory levels show no sign of strain.
The average share count, including shares that awards could create, edged up 1.8% from the first quarter. Buda redeemed $3.75 million of shares in the first quarter and has since paid for $175,000 of services with stock. Dilution so far stays small.
Delivery and handling, the cost of getting drinks to stores, rose 45% in dollars. As a share of sales it eased to 3.9% from 4.4%. The ratio has stayed below last year's level in all three quarters of 2026, even with nine new states to serve.
🔮 Guidance
New. Buda plans to begin moving dressings production from an outside maker to its Dallas plant in the first quarter of 2027. It gives no figure for the saving and no sales or profit forecast; it said in May that it does not forecast revenue. The move targets the fees Buda blamed, with diesel, for a gross margin below last year's.
❓ Key Questions
How much do the 246 Walmart stores sell?
Most of the growth came from new shelves and the dressings purchase. Without a Walmart sales figure, readers cannot tell whether the new stores sell as well as Buda's Texas shops, or how much growth fades after the first year.
Who is the related party that owes $790,000?
About a third of all money owed to Buda sits with a related party the release does not name. Investors need to know who it is, what Buda sells to it and when it pays.
Why did receivables triple as a share of sales?
Receivables reached 44% of quarterly sales from 14% in March, and cash from operations fell this year. Buda should say whether Walmart's payment terms, the dressings business or slower collections explain the change.
How much will in-house dressings lift gross margin?
Buda blamed outside production fees and diesel for a gross margin 3.7 points below last year. A figure for the expected saving would show how much of the gap the Dallas lines can close.
Which grocers could follow Walmart, and when?
In May, the chief executive said other retailers could join over months to years. The release names none, so growth after Walmart's first anniversary depends on talks Buda has not described.