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Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by EBITDA

Top consumer defensive companies ranked by EBITDA, latest annual filings.

What EBITDA Means for Consumer Defensive Companies

EBITDA measures earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, isolating operating profit from financing and accounting allocations. In consumer defensive businesses, which span packaged food, household goods, beverages, tobacco, and grocery retail, demand is relatively stable across cycles. That steadiness gives EBITDA margins a more predictable shape than in discretionary categories, and large acquisition-driven amortization often drives a meaningful gap between EBITDA and reported operating income for consolidators in the space.

Why It Matters in Consumer Defensive

The sector's relative demand stability lets EBITDA serve as a reasonable proxy for steady-state operating cash generation, and the metric is widely used in staples leveraged finance and valuation. It is less useful when commodity input costs shift sharply, because EBITDA can compress before pricing catches up. Consolidators carrying heavy goodwill amortization also show wider gaps between EBITDA and GAAP earnings, so comparing purely reported bottom lines can mislead.

What to Read Alongside

Pair EBITDA with Free Cash Flow for after-capex and working-capital cash conversion, Gross Margin to track how commodity input-cost moves pass through to pricing, and Debt to frame leverage across the sector's typical capital structures.

Data as of FY 2025 100 companies Rhea AI
# Symbol Company Sector
1 WMT Walmart Inc. Consumer Defensive $44.03B $891.86B
2 PG Procter & Gamble Company Consumer Defensive $22.91B $341.62B
3 PM Philip Morris International Inc. Consumer Defensive $16.89B $293.10B
4 PEP PepsiCo, Inc. Consumer Defensive $14.95B $188.96B
5 KO Coca-Cola Company Consumer Defensive $14.81B $373.68B
6 COST Costco Wholesale Corporation Consumer Defensive $12.81B $420.93B
7 MO Altria Group, Inc. Consumer Defensive $10.16B $113.13B
8 TGT Target Corporation Consumer Defensive $8.25B $66.80B
9 KR The Kroger Co. Consumer Defensive $5.22B $35.12B
10 MDLZ Mondelez International, Inc. Consumer Defensive $4.91B $80.09B
11 KDP Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. Consumer Defensive $4.28B $41.33B
12 SYY Sysco Corporation Consumer Defensive $4.03B $40.37B
13 CL Colgate-Palmolive Company Consumer Defensive $3.94B $74.14B
14 DG Dollar General Corporation Consumer Defensive $3.25B $28.11B
15 KMB Kimberly-Clark Corporation Consumer Defensive $3.16B $36.14B
16 STZ Constellation Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $3.14B $22.63B
17 KVUE Kenvue Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.97B $36.83B
18 ACI Albertsons Companies, Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.64B $5.86B
19 MNST Monster Beverage Corporation Consumer Defensive $2.53B $92.09B
20 TSN Tyson Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.45B $20.59B
21 DLTR Dollar Tree, Inc. Consumer Defensive $2.30B $24.92B
22 K Kellanova Consumer Defensive $2.24B $29.03B
23 PPC Pilgrim's Pride Corporation Consumer Defensive $2.07B $6.56B
24 HSY The Hershey Company Consumer Defensive $1.95B $36.77B
25 USFD US Foods Holding Corp. Consumer Defensive $1.66B $23.56B
26 SFD Smithfield Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.62B $9.87B
27 CPB The Campbell's Company Consumer Defensive $1.56B $6.73B
28 PFGC Performance Food Group Company Consumer Defensive $1.53B $18.00B
29 GIS General Mills, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.44B $19.25B
30 CHD Church & Dwight Co., Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.32B $24.52B
31 POST Post Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.32B $4.09B
32 MKC McCormick & Company, Incorporated Consumer Defensive $1.30B $14.06B
33 INGR Ingredion Incorporated Consumer Defensive $1.24B $6.49B
34 COKE Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.15B $12.53B
35 BJ BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $1.11B $12.41B
36 PRMB Primo Brands Corporation Consumer Defensive $1.04B $8.66B
37 LW Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.99B $7.16B
38 HRL Hormel Foods Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.98B $13.81B
39 SJM The J. M. Smucker Company Consumer Defensive $0.92B $12.70B
40 SFM Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.84B $8.13B
41 DAR DARLING INGREDIENTS INC. Consumer Defensive $0.78B $9.62B
42 COTY Coty Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.66B $2.39B
43 MH McGraw Hill, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.64B $2.21B
44 HLF Herbalife Ltd. Consumer Defensive $0.60B $1.21B
45 LRN Stride, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.58B $3.32B
46 EDU New Oriental Education and Technology Group, Inc. American Consumer Defensive $0.57B $9.04B
47 LAUR Laureate Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.51B $5.14B
48 CALM Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.47B $3.98B
49 CVSA Covista Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.44B $4.23B
50 ATGE Adtalem Global Education Inc Consumer Defensive $0.39B $3.40B
51 BRBR BellRing Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.38B $1.41B
52 OLLI Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.35B $4.71B
53 NWL Newell Brands Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.35B $2.56B
54 TAL TAL Education Group Consumer Defensive $0.35B $6.91B
55 FLO Flowers Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.34B $1.53B
56 DOLE Dole plc Consumer Defensive $0.34B $1.31B
57 CENT Central Garden & Pet Company Consumer Defensive $0.33B $2.91B
58 PSMT PriceSmart, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.32B $5.50B
59 LOPE Grand Canyon Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.30B $3.88B
60 IPAR Interparfums, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.30B $3.81B
61 UNFI United Natural Foods, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.29B $2.90B
62 MZTI The Marzetti Company Consumer Defensive $0.28B $3.02B
63 FIZZ National Beverage Corp. Consumer Defensive $0.25B $2.99B
64 THS Treehouse Foods Inc Consumer Defensive $0.25B $1.23B
65 IMKTA Ingles Markets, Incorporated Consumer Defensive $0.24B $1.65B
66 WMK Weis Markets, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.24B $1.89B
67 PRDO Perdoceo Education Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.24B $2.03B
68 SAM The Boston Beer Company, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.24B $1.88B
69 SPB Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.22B $2.03B
70 STRA Strategic Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.22B $1.86B
71 UVV Universal Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.22B $1.27B
72 DMC Del Monte Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.21B $1.41B
73 CHEF The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.20B $4.45B
74 KLG WK Kellogg Co Consumer Defensive $0.20B $1.99B
75 EPC Edgewell Personal Care Company Consumer Defensive $0.19B $1.30B
76 SMPL The Simply Good Foods Company Consumer Defensive $0.18B $0.99B
77 CELH Celsius Holdings, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.17B $6.08B
78 FRPT Freshpet, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.16B $3.21B
79 JJSF J&J Snack Foods Corp. Consumer Defensive $0.16B $1.71B
80 SPTN SpartanNash Company Consumer Defensive $0.16B $0.91B
81 ELF e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.15B $5.44B
82 ODD Oddity Tech Ltd. Consumer Defensive $0.13B $0.62B
83 TR Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.12B $2.99B
84 UTI Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.12B $1.53B
85 JBSS John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.11B $0.98B
86 VLGEA Village Super Market, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.11B $0.64B
87 KLC KinderCare Learning Companies, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.10B $0.61B
88 UTZ Utz Brands, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.10B $1.25B
89 AVO Mission Produce, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.10B $1.11B
90 VITL Vital Farms, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.10B $0.54B
91 NGVC Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.09B $0.75B
92 COCO The Vita Coco Company, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.08B $3.71B
93 STKL SunOpta Inc Consumer Defensive $0.08B $0.77B
94 APEI American Public Education, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.06B $0.93B
95 RLX RLX Technology Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.06B $2.43B
96 LINC Lincoln Educational Services Corporation Consumer Defensive $0.05B $1.25B
97 EL The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.04B $30.93B
98 DAO Youdao, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.03B $2.12B
99 UDMY Udemy, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.02B $0.68B
100 MAMA Mama's Creations, Inc. Consumer Defensive $0.01B $0.85B

How this ranking is built

Companies are ranked by EBITDA as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.

  • Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
  • Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
  • Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
  • Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).

Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.