HSY vs PEP vs JJSF Stock Comparison

Hershey, Pepsico and J&J Snack Foods Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HSY Hershey Co
$169.63 +0.7% 1M -6.6% 1Y
Market cap
$34.01B
P/E
22.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$12.16B
Div. yield
0.03%
Snacks and Confectionery Consumer Staples
5 wins
PEP Pepsico Inc
$135.77 +4.3% 1M -10.4% 1Y
Market cap
$184.65B
P/E
16.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$98.24B
Div. yield
–
Non-Alcoholic Beverages Consumer Staples
4 wins
JJSF J&J Snack Foods Corp
$83.67 +7.4% 1M -9.3% 1Y
Market cap
$1.55B
P/E
31.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.52B
Div. yield
–
Snacks and Confectionery Consumer Staples
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Hershey leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Hershey 5, Pepsico 4, J&J Snack Foods 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHSYPEPJJSFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $34.01B $184.65B $1.55B PEP
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 22.8x 16.9x 31.5x PEP
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.0x 15.8x 20.0x PEP
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.7% +6.4% -4.7% HSY
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.2% 11.1% 3.2% HSY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.5% 16.1% 5.3% HSY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 2.2x -0.2x JJSF
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -6.6% -10.4% -9.3% HSY
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.4%/yr -3.2%/yr -10.8%/yr HSY
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 27.8% 21.4% 35.5% PEP
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 64/100 67/100 JJSF

Percentile Scorecard

HSYPEPJJSF

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHSYPEPJJSF
Valuation 41 #27 of 45 62 #15 of 38 68 #15 of 45
Growth 61 #17 of 42 59 #14 of 33 39 #26 of 42
Profitability 100 #1 of 40 87 #5 of 32 62 #16 of 40
Financial Health 59 #20 of 47 35 #25 of 38 91 #5 of 47
Shareholder Returns 62 #12 of 31 78 #6 of 24 77 #8 of 31
Overall 64 64 67
  • HSY ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods
  • PEP ranked among 41 companies in Beverages
  • JJSF ranked among 48 companies in Branded Foods

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHSYPEPJJSFSPY
1 month +0.7%+4.3%+7.4% -1.0%
3 months -2.7%-0.6%+9.5% +2.9%
6 months -11.4%-12.7%-0.6% +6.4%
Year to date -6.8%-5.4%-7.4% +11.4%
1 year -6.6%-10.4%-9.3% +13.1%
3 years -10.9%-16.3%-45.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year -3.8%-5.8%-18.2% +21.5%
5 years -6.8%-15.1%-43.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year -1.4%-3.2%-10.8% +10.9%
10 years +77.9%+28.5%-29.2% +255.2%
10 years, per year +5.9%+2.5%-3.4% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureHSYPEPJJSFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 27.8%21.4%35.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.0%20.4%39.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.20-0.18-0.30 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.24-0.49-0.26 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.6%-36.9%-61.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.2%-20.4%-15.0% -2.5%
52-week high $236.28$170.49$98.44 $779.14
52-week low $157.59$123.73$69.90 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHSYPEPJJSF
P/E now vs peer median 23.0xmedian 20.7x 17.0xmedian 27.0x 31.8xmedian 20.7x
P/S now vs peer median 2.8xmedian 0.7x 1.9xmedian 1.6x 1.0xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.5xmedian 12.4x 12.1xmedian 14.4x 10.8xmedian 12.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.4xmedian 14.0x 17.7xmedian 18.3x 16.9xmedian 14.0x
P/B now vs peer median 7.5xmedian 1.5x 8.2xmedian 2.8x 1.7xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median -4.18median 0.42 1.71median 2.03 -3.85median 0.42

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHSYPEPJJSF
Revenue $12.16B $98.24B $1.52B
Gross profit $4.67B $53.22B $476.55M
Operating income $2.16B $15.05B $60.18M
Net income $1.49B $10.97B $49.27M
Free cash flow $2.23B $10.47B $92.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.79 $7.97 $2.63
Cash & equivalents $791.21M $10.68B $63.10M
Total debt $5.61B $208.67B $57.00M
Shares (diluted) 257.36M 1.37B 18.75M
Enterprise value $30.25B $142.41B $1.26B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHSYPEPJJSF
P/E 23.0x 17.0x 31.8x
P/FCF 15.4x 17.7x 16.9x
P/Operating cash flow 12.9x 12.7x 9.3x
P/S 2.8x 1.9x 1.0x
P/B 7.5x 8.2x 1.7x
P/Tangible book 16.0x 21.7x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 14.5x 12.1x 10.8x
EV/EBIT 18.1x 15.0x 25.3x
EV/Revenue 3.2x 2.3x 1.0x
EV/FCF 17.6x 21.6x 16.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.7x 15.5x 9.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -4.18 1.71 -3.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHSYPEPJJSF
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.7% 6.4% -4.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.9% 2.4% 0.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 3.0% 6.8% 0.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 2.5% 2.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) 2.3% 47.7% -46.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.0% 10.6% -12.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -2.7% 50.8% -41.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -5.9% 9.4% -9.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -2.5% 51.4% -38.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.5% 10.0% -8.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 23.8% 23.9% 15.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 5.5% 6.3% 1.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 34.8% 54.3% 38.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.4% 14.7% 14.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHSYPEPJJSF
Gross margin 38.4% 54.2% 31.3%
EBITDA margin 22.1% 19.1% 9.3%
Operating margin 17.8% 15.3% 3.9%
Pretax margin 15.8% 14.0% 4.0%
Net margin 12.2% 11.1% 3.2%
FCF margin 18.3% 10.7% 6.0%
Operating cash flow margin 21.8% 14.8% 10.9%
Return on equity 32.0% 49.0% 5.6%
Return on assets 10.7% 9.8% 3.7%
Return on invested capital 16.5% 16.1% 5.3%
Return on capital employed 20.5% 19.4% 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.9x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 1.3x 3.4x
Stock comp / revenue 0.6% 0.3% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHSYPEPJJSF
Debt / assets 40.2% 46.3% 2.1%
Debt / equity 1.2x 2.3x 0.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 2.2x -0.2x
Debt / FCF 2.5x 5.0x 0.3x
Liabilities / assets 67.3% 79.9% 34.2%
Equity / assets 32.7% 20.1% 65.8%
Interest coverage – 13.6x 27.8x
Current ratio 1.2x 0.9x 2.3x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.7x 1.4x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.3x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 4.20 3.48 4.38

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHSYPEPJJSF
Dividend yield 3.4% 4.3% 3.8%
Net buyback yield 1.2% 0.5% 4.8%
Shareholder yield 4.6% 4.7% 8.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 75.0% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 50.1% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 3.1% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.5% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHSYPEPJJSF
Forward P/E 19.0xFY2026 15.8xFY2026 20.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $8.94FY2026 $8.60FY2026 $4.18FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +41.7%FY2026 +5.7%FY2026 -2.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.9% +3.1% +5.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $12.55BFY2026 $96.42BFY2026 $1.59BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.4%FY2026 +2.7%FY2026 +0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.1% +11.4% -6.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHSYPEPJJSF
Held by institutions 64.3% 79.1% 79.7%
Institutions holding 1,413 3,414 249
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.5% +5.8% +0.1%
Institutions buying 662 1,500 135
Institutions selling 506 1,515 80
Buyers to sellers 1.31 0.99 1.69

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HSYPEPJJSF
HSY 1.00 0.53 0.28
PEP 0.53 1.00 0.26
JJSF 0.28 0.26 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HSY, PEP and JJSF?

Pepsico (PEP) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hershey (HSY) $34.01B, Pepsico (PEP) $184.65B, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) $1.55B.

Which stock is cheaper, HSY, PEP and JJSF?

Pepsico (PEP) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hershey (HSY) 22.8x, Pepsico (PEP) 16.9x, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 31.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Pepsico (PEP) is cheapest (Hershey (HSY) 19.0x, Pepsico (PEP) 15.8x, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 20.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hershey (HSY) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Hershey (HSY) +7.7%, Pepsico (PEP) +6.4%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) -4.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Hershey (HSY) has the highest net margin (Hershey (HSY) 12.2%, Pepsico (PEP) 11.1%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 3.2%). On return on invested capital, Hershey (HSY) leads (Hershey (HSY) 16.5%, Pepsico (PEP) 16.1%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 5.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hershey (HSY) returned the most: Hershey (HSY) -6.6%, Pepsico (PEP) -10.4%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) -9.3%. Over five years, Hershey (HSY) compounded fastest (Hershey (HSY) -1.4%/yr, Pepsico (PEP) -3.2%/yr, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) -10.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Hershey (HSY) 0.03%, Pepsico (PEP) 0.00%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 0.00%. Pepsico (PEP) and J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Pepsico (PEP) has been the steadiest (Hershey (HSY) 27.8%, Pepsico (PEP) 21.4%, J&J Snack Foods (JJSF) 35.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HSY, PEP and JJSF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Hershey (HSY) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.