Celsius Holdings, Inc. CELH

Key data

The business

Celsius sells no sugar energy drinks positioned as fitness products rather than stimulants, bought by consumers who treat energy as workout fuel and sold through gyms, convenience stores and club channels. Revenue arrives when cases move into a distribution network the company does not own. Pepsi has handled United States distribution since a 2022 agreement that gave Pepsi an equity stake and influence in exchange for shelf access.

That shelf is the engine, so growth tends to arrive as brands rather than as organic acceleration. Revenue rose 2.9% in 2024. Then the 2025 Alani Nu purchase, funded with a $900 million term loan, lifted revenue 85.5% to $2.52 billion, and Rockstar Energy joined the portfolio. June quarter revenue reached $817.9 million with gross margin at 48.1%, down 340 basis points year over year.

Business read. Two acquisitions bought the revenue line, and the owner's line has not followed them yet.

Things you might not know

FY2025 net income was $108.0 million but only $63.8 million reached the common, a $44.2 million gap of claims ranking ahead of shareholders. That is 41% of GAAP earnings routed elsewhere before the per share line, which is why the $0.25 line and the $108.0 million line describe the same year differently.

Alani Nu was not the only brand added. Celsius reported the June 2026 quarter as a scaled multi brand portfolio including Rockstar Energy, and the compensation committee excluded Rockstar from 2025 goals and results. North America supplied $790.7 million of $817.9 million, so 96.7% of revenue sits in one market.

Debt is coming down faster than the schedule requires. Quarterly amortization is only 0.25% of original principal, yet the balance fell to $694.8 million by June 30, 2026 after $197.8 million of repayment in the fourth quarter of 2025. Against $631.2 million of cash, net debt is roughly $64 million.

Fundamentals

The June quarter grew on both comparisons, 4.5% sequentially and 10.6% year over year, while every profit line moved the other way. Gross margin fell to 48.1% and net income fell 44.6% to $55.3 million. The mix from acquired brands and the spending behind them is landing below the gross line, not above it.

Valuation

Peer set: Monster Beverage, Keurig Dr Pepper, Vita Coco, National Beverage, Coca-Cola.

At 3.4x FY2025 sales and about 23x summed trailing street earnings, the price is undemanding for a 50.4% gross margin brand. At 133x GAAP earnings it is not. The spread between those two numbers is acquisition accounting and items below the operating line. No peer financials were pulled on this run, so the median column stays empty rather than estimated.

Management

Compensation

The linchpins

Win big if

The June shortfall was distributor inventory timing rather than consumer demand, in which case the November 5 print clears a bar consensus has already lowered to $798.9 million and $0.37, below the June quarter's $817.9 million. First observable proof is November revenue above $850 million with management naming channel inventory as the cause. The confirming signal is FY2026 GAAP diluted earnings per share above $0.45, which would show the Alani Nu drag was transitional, with combined shelf space and combined revenue both growing rather than one brand feeding on the other.

Surprised down if

The miss was demand rather than timing, in which case a second consecutive shortfall converts one data point into a trend and the acquisitions look like purchased revenue rather than added revenue. First observable proof is November revenue below the $798.9 million consensus. The confirming signal is legacy Celsius revenue declining while Alani Nu grows, or distribution terms renegotiated in Pepsi's favour, or Pepsi promoting a competing house brand into the same shelf space, since Pepsi controls how Celsius reaches the American consumer.

Last word

Half the 52-week high, 50.4% gross margins, and $0.25 of GAAP earnings doing all the arguing.