The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. (CHEF)
OvervaluedFundamental
64
Price
$112.17
Market Cap
$4.58B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, distributes specialty food and center-of-the-plate products in the United States, the Middle East, and Canada. It offers specialty food products, such as artisan charcuterie, specialty cheeses, unique oils and vinegars, truffles, caviar, chocolate, and pastry products and center-of-the-plate products that includes custom cut beef, seafood, and hormone-free poultry, as well as produce and broadline food products comprising cooking oils, butter, eggs, milk, and flour. The company serves menu-driven independent restaurants, fine dining establishments, country clubs, hotels, caterers, culinary schools, bakeries, patisseries, chocolatiers, cruise lines, casinos, and specialty food stores. It markets its center-of-the-plate products directly to consumers through a mail and e-commerce platform. The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Ridgefield, Connecticut.
No editorial profile for this company yet
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
Generated on September 18, 2026 with claude-haiku-4-5 — shared with all users
US Foods sells the same broadline and specialty food assortment to the independent, menu-driven restaurants and hotels that are Chefs' Warehouse's core customers, and has built out specialty produce, meat and imported-goods lines aimed squarely at that chef segment.
Sysco is the largest US foodservice distributor and competes for the same independent-restaurant orders through its specialty platforms such as FreshPoint produce, its specialty meat companies and European Imports.
Performance Foodservice, PFG's restaurant-facing arm, targets the same independent operators with center-of-the-plate proteins and specialty items delivered on comparable routes.
Gordon Food Service is the largest privately held US broadline distributor and competes for restaurant, hotel and caterer accounts across many of the same metropolitan markets.
Baldor is a privately held specialty produce and fine-food distributor serving chefs in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the same white-tablecloth accounts and geography where Chefs' Warehouse is strongest.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$4.26B
Trailing 12 months (through 3/27/2026)
Net Income
$79M
Trailing 12 months (through 3/27/2026)
Free Cash Flow
$88M
Total Equity
$604M
Total Liabilities
$1.42B
Current Ratio
2.18
Interest Coverage
3.73
Debt/EBITDA
5.56
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$78.48
Current Price
$112.17
Margin of Safety
-42.9%
Fair Value Range
$51.01 - $105.95
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
61.30
ROE
12.0%
P/B Ratio
7.52
P/FCF
56.38
Gross Margin
24.3%
ROIC
7.9%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
7.9%
WACC
10.8%
ROIC − WACC
-2.9 pp
ROIC is below the cost of capital — the company is destroying value for every dollar invested.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (18)
- EPS shows upward trend
- EPS CAGR 18.58%
- Price CAGR 21.30%
- ROIC 7.9%
- Debt/Equity ratio
- Positive Free Cash Flow
- Current Ratio
- Interest Coverage
- Debt/EBITDA
- Return on Tangible Assets
- ROE 13.5%
- Revenue Growth 5Y 30.1%
- Analyst Consensus 80% Buy
- Earnings Surprise avg 27.4%
- Earnings Quality (OCF/NI) 1.48
- Share Dilution 2.5%
- Net Margin Trend 1.9% vs 1.6%
- Piotroski F-Score 8/9
Failed (8)
- Gross Margin 24.3%
- P/FCF 56.38
- P/B Ratio 7.52
- Operating Margin 3.7%
- CapEx intensity
- Low reliance on intangibles
- Price below Graham Number
- DCF valuation (Overvalued)
Unavailable (2)
- Dividend Payout NaN%
- PEG Ratio (need PE > 0 and growth > 0)
Piotroski F-Score
Strong financial health
Earnings Quality
High quality: earnings backed by cash
Share Dilution
Issuing new shares, diluting ownership
Institutional Holdings
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Christopher Pappas | Founder, Chairman, CEO & President | 65 |
| Mr. John Pappas | Founder, Vice Chairman & COO | 61 |
| Mr. James F. Leddy | CFO & Assistant Secretary | 62 |
| Mr. Alexandros Aldous J.D. | Gen. Counsel, Chief Government Relations Officer, Corporate Secretary & Chief Administrative Officer | 44 |
| Ms. Christina Polychroni | Chief Human Resources Officer | 45 |
| Mr. Timothy McCauley | Chief Accounting Officer | 60 |
| Mr. Jonathan Steckler | Executive Vice President of Supply Chain & Business Intelligence | 56 |
Audit Risk
4
Board Risk
5
Compensation Risk
9
Shareholder Rights Risk
2
Part 2 · The price and when to enter
This part won't tell you whether the company is worth owning: it helps you choose when to buy it, once the fundamentals have convinced you. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Documents
- View document
Annual Report (10-K)
A yearly overview of the business, its financial results, and the risks it faces.
Filed on 2026-02-24
- View document
Quarterly Report (10-Q)
A snapshot of financial performance for the most recent three-month period.
Filed on 2026-07-29
- View document
Current Report (8-K)
An announcement of a major event, such as a leadership change or big news.
Filed on 2026-07-29
via SEC EDGAR
Income History
via SEC EDGAR
Latest News
Recent headlines for CHEF, sourced from Markets Gazette.