Cal-Maine Foods
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 2/3
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $289.80m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 12.0% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 3. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 0/2
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Cash conversion | 1.51x | median 1.78x | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
Passes 0 of 2. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 1/2
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Return on equity | 12.0% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Operating margin | 12.0% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/3
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 12.0% | median 11.7% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Cash conversion | 1.51x | median 1.78x | ✗ |
| Return on equity, sustained | 6 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 2/3
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | 12.0% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | 10.9% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
| Return on capital employed | — | median 10.1% | — |
| Operating margin, held or improving | 12.0% | 10-yr median 6.7% | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 3. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 1/1
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 7.70x | median 1.25x | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 1/2
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 7.70x | 2.00x published | ✓ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | — | 1.00x published | — |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 9 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/1
| Measure | CALM | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | — | median 0.79x | — |
| Net margin | 10.9% | median 10.2% | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Cal-Maine Foods. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | 37.1% | whyThe figure most screeners publish. |
| Operating cash flow | 48.3% | whyAbsorbs working-capital swings that earnings do not. |
| Free cash flow | 70.5% | whyAfter maintaining the business. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 33.4 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 18 / 100 — Not covered. ? Peer standing 18/50Direction 0/30Stability 0/20
Against its own history: 70.5% this year vs 31.1% median over the prior 5. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-30 | 70.5% |
| 2025-05-31 | 31.1% |
| 2024-06-01 | 30.2% |
| 2023-06-03 | 34.7% |
| 2022-05-28 | 11.4% |
| 2019-06-01 | 88.6% |
Coverage worsened sharply this year, 31.1% to 70.5%, after no clear trend before it. One year is not a trend, but it is worth knowing which direction the last one moved.
37% of the 38 consumer staples here pay out more.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $2.46 ÷ diluted EPS $6.63
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $232m ÷ operating cash flow $480m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $232m ÷ (operating cash flow $480m − capex $151m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-07-22 · accession 0001562762-26-000080
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Caveats on this company
- DPS $2.46 filed as declared, but dividends paid imply $4.85 — one of the two underlying facts is wrong. The filed per-share figure is used.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated not covered · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever Cal-Maine Foods files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.