US Foods Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

US Foods NYSE: USFD reported record second-quarter adjusted EBITDA and margin, supported by accelerating growth with independent restaurants, healthcare and hospitality customers, while reaffirming its full-year 2026 outlook.

Net sales rose 4.5% to $10.5 billion in the second quarter, driven by 1.9% total case-volume growth and a 2.6% contribution from food-cost inflation and mix, Chief Financial Officer Dirk Locascio said.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 10.2% to a record $604 million, while adjusted diluted earnings per share climbed 21% to $1.44.

Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 29 basis points to a record 5.7%.

The company said adjusted gross profit per case increased 5% to $0.41 higher than the prior year, outpacing a 3.7%, or $0.21, increase in adjusted operating expenses per case.

Adjusted EBITDA per case rose 8.3% to $2.73.

Independent restaurant case volume grew 5.1%, the strongest result since the fourth quarter of 2023 and the company’s fifth consecutive quarter of acceleration, according to Chair and CEO Dave Flitman.

Healthcare case volume increased 3.5%, while hospitality volume grew 4.4%.

Chain restaurant volume declined 1.5%, though Locascio said that was 30 basis points better than industry traffic reported by Black Box.

Flitman said the independent restaurant performance was driven primarily by net new account generation, which reached its strongest level in three years.

The company also reported its 21st consecutive quarter of independent restaurant share gains and its 23rd consecutive quarter of healthcare share gains.

During the question-and-answer session, Flitman said July trends were broadly consistent with the second quarter.

He described the restaurant market as “pressured but stable,” citing continued industry foot-traffic challenges, but said the company’s customer acquisition and existing-account penetration efforts continued to improve.

US Foods launched its new seller compensation plan companywide in June.

The plan is designed to align incentives with priorities including independent restaurant growth, exclusive-brand penetration and Pronto service adoption.

Flitman said early behavior changes have been encouraging, though it will take time for the compensation transition to have a larger effect on growth.

Sales-force attrition remained flat year over year, he said.

The company continued to expand Pronto, its small-truck delivery service that offers later order cutoff times, smaller order sizes and more frequent delivery options.

Pronto is operating in 52 markets, while Pronto Next Day service for existing independent customers is available in 35 markets.

US Foods plans to add eight Pronto Next Day markets this year.

After generating $1 billion in sales during 2025, US Foods now e...