HSY vs UTZ Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Hershey's cocoa-cost-exposed confectionery scale against Utz Brands' smaller, faster-growing salty-snack platform.
Use this Hershey vs Utz Brands comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
HSY holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. UTZ leads on both 1-year return (+7.09%) and forward P/E quality (17.01x vs 18.14x for HSY), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. HSY leads on both revenue growth (6.60%) and operating margin (23.12%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for HSY (+14.79%) than for UTZ (+0.79%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 41.7 | 30.6 |
| AI ranki | #978 | #2254 |
| Latest closei | $173.15 | $14.21 |
| 1M returni | -3.58% | +0.64% |
| 6M returni | -23.58% | +67.74% |
| 1Y returni | -6.25% | +7.09% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.34K (-6.6%) started 2025-09-04 | $11.02K (+10.2%) started 2025-09-04 |
| 5Y ago | $11.95K (+19.5%) started 2021-09-07 | $8.44K (-15.6%) started 2021-09-07 |
| 10Y ago | $26.71K (+167.1%) started 2016-09-06 | $18.05K (+80.5%) started 2018-11-26 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $35.98B | $2.04B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 24.46 | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 18.14 | 17.01 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 3.38 | 1.96 |
| Analyst targeti | $205.52 | $14.31 |
| Target upsidei | +14.79% | +0.79% |
| Metric | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 6.60% | 1.40% |
| Earnings growthi | 631.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +631.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +14.33% | +7.10% |
| Operating margini | 23.12% | 2.15% |
| Profit margini | 12.24% | -2.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | 32.81% | -3.11% |
| Return on equityi | 32.81% | -3.11% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.24% | 1.77% |
| Betai | 0.10 | 0.77 |
| Debt/equityi | 129.82 | 78.59 |
| Current ratioi | 1.18 | 1.06 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.51 | 0.54 |
Over the past year, HSY and UTZ have moved barely in the same direction (correlation of 0.11), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -6.56% | +7.09% |
| CAGRi | -6.57% | +7.09% | |
| Volatilityi | 27.45% | 98.16% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.27 | 0.37 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.40 | 1.08 | |
| Max drawdowni | 27.94% | 49.95% | |
| Current drawdowni | 26.72% | 0.28% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.30% | 27.07% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 15.38% | 31.64% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.70% | 19.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.55% | 18.49% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +8.90% | -23.06% |
| CAGRi | +1.72% | -5.12% | |
| Volatilityi | 23.42% | 53.93% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.00 | 0.04 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.00 | 0.07 | |
| Max drawdowni | 45.25% | 63.76% | |
| Current drawdowni | 33.39% | 23.59% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 19.46% | 25.33% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 23.79% | 29.27% | |
| Max daily dropi | 7.86% | 19.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 10.55% | 18.49% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +112.93% | +62.79% |
| CAGRi | +7.86% | +6.47% | |
| Volatilityi | 22.89% | 46.52% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | 0.23 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.35 | 0.45 | |
| Max drawdowni | 45.25% | 75.43% | |
| Current drawdowni | 33.39% | 48.18% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 12.94% | 33.70% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 17.91% | 40.91% | |
| Max daily dropi | 16.53% | 19.14% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 21.95% | 18.94% |
| Category | HSY | UTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Company | HSY | UTZ |
| Sector | Consumer Defensive | Consumer Defensive |
| Industry | Confectioners | Packaged Foods |
| Core business | The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. | Utz Brands, Inc. manufactures branded salty snacks in the United States. |
Want deeper AI forecasts?
This comparison page is public and free forever. Subscribers can unlock saved watchlists, full AI rankings, detailed forecasts, and interactive analysis tools.
Full valuation workup with AI Score, Monte Carlo forecast, and bull/bear case — free preview, premium data from $3.99.