Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $38.18 and last traded at $38.3830, with a volume of 6953497 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.26.

Key Headlines Impacting Lamb Weston

Here are the key news stories impacting Lamb Weston this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat on revenue and EPS — Q3 revenue of ~$1.56B and adjusted EPS of $0.72 topped Street estimates, showing demand and North American volume growth that offset pricing pressure. Frozen Out: Lamb Weston Beats Earnings, but the Stock Still Slides
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance and cash-flow improvements — Management raised the midpoint of fiscal-year net sales and EBITDA outlook, reduced expected 2026 capex, reported meaningful year-to-date free cash flow and reaffirmed a $250M+ cost-savings program. These moves shift focus toward cash generation. Lamb Weston Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Input-cost tailwind possible — Management expects lower contracted potato costs in North America and Europe for the next crop year, which could help margins in fiscal 2027 if volumes hold. Frozen Out: Lamb Weston Beats Earnings, but the Stock Still Slides
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reactions mixed — Some analysts raised models after the beats and guidance tweaks, while others trimmed price targets and adjusted estimates ahead of/after the call. Pay attention to ongoing revisions for short-term guidance. Lamb Weston Earnings Are Imminent; These Most Accurate Analysts Revise Forecasts Ahead Of Earnings Call
• Negative Sentiment: Margin deterioration and profit decline — Operating income and net income fell sharply year-over-year (large percentage declines), driven by pricing pressure, supply/factory utilization issues and weaker international restaurant demand. That’s the main driver of the stock slide. Frozen Out: Lamb Weston Beats Earnings, but the Stock Still Slides
• Negative Sentiment: International business drag & activist scrutiny — Softer demand in key overseas markets and pressure from an activist investor raise uncertainty on the timing of margin recovery and strategic execution. Lamb Weston Earnings Top Estimates. Why The Stock Is Barely Budging.
• Negative Sentiment: Price-target cut — At least one firm trimmed its price target (Deutsche Bank), reflecting continued near-term risk to earnings and valuation. Deutsche Bank Lowers Lamb Weston Price Target to $40.00

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LW has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.50.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.43.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.09. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 6.06%.The business had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LW. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 9,685 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Lamb Weston by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 649 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. increased its position in Lamb Weston by 13.6% during the third quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. now owns 1,772 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 6.5% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lamb Weston by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 3,101 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.