Top Consumer Defensive Stocks by Free Cash Flow
Top consumer defensive companies ranked by free cash flow, latest annual filings.
What Free Cash Flow Means for Consumer Defensive Companies
Free cash flow in consumer defensive is typically one of the steadiest in the market. Food, beverage, household product, and tobacco firms benefit from stable demand and predictable capital needs, which shows up as year-in, year-out cash conversion that underwrites dividends many holders rely on. The main variables are commodity input costs, which can compress cash margins in a single year, and acquisition activity, which can temporarily dominate capital allocation.
Why It Matters in Consumer Defensive
Consistent free cash flow is a defining feature of the sector, funding the sustained dividend track records defensive staples are known for. Even so, steadiness can mask slow erosion. Private-label share gains, channel shifts, or volume declines disguised by price increases can take years to appear in the free cash flow line. Reading the metric alongside organic volume growth and brand share data gives a more complete picture than the headline figure alone.
What to Read Alongside
Pair free cash flow with Net Income to test accounting quality against commodity input costs, Share Buybacks for capital return beyond the steady dividend, and Revenue to see how volumes and pricing are converting into cash.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PG | The Procter & Gamble Company | Consumer Defensive | $15.15B | $346.15B |
| 2 | WMT | Walmart Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $14.92B | $862.64B |
| 3 | BUD | Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV | Consumer Defensive | $11.23B | $151.82B |
| 4 | PM | Philip Morris International Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $10.66B | $302.00B |
| 5 | MO | Altria Group, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $9.07B | $115.43B |
| 6 | COST | Costco Wholesale Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $7.84B | $409.10B |
| 7 | PEP | PepsiCo, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $7.67B | $175.39B |
| 8 | KO | The Coca-Cola Company | Consumer Defensive | $5.30B | $375.10B |
| 9 | ADM | Archer-Daniels-Midland Company | Consumer Defensive | $4.20B | $38.74B |
| 10 | KHC | The Kraft Heinz Company | Consumer Defensive | $3.66B | $27.94B |
| 11 | CL | Colgate-Palmolive Company | Consumer Defensive | $3.63B | $68.97B |
| 12 | KR | The Kroger Co. | Consumer Defensive | $3.46B | $35.25B |
| 13 | MDLZ | Mondelez International, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $3.23B | $76.81B |
| 14 | TGT | Target Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $2.83B | $71.97B |
| 15 | DG | Dollar General Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $2.39B | $27.03B |
| 16 | MNST | Monster Beverage Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $1.97B | $82.01B |
| 17 | SYY | Sysco Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $1.94B | $37.68B |
| 18 | HSY | The Hershey Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.82B | $33.03B |
| 19 | STZ | Constellation Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.79B | $19.28B |
| 20 | KVUE | Kenvue Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.72B | $34.34B |
| 21 | KMB | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $1.64B | $32.85B |
| 22 | GIS | General Mills, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.63B | $17.97B |
| 23 | KDP | Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.50B | $42.81B |
| 24 | EL | The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.32B | $34.58B |
| 25 | TSN | Tyson Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.18B | $17.92B |
| 26 | SJM | The J. M. Smucker Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.16B | $12.89B |
| 27 | K | Kellanova | Consumer Defensive | $1.13B | $29.03B |
| 28 | PPC | Pilgrim's Pride Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $1.12B | $6.69B |
| 29 | CHD | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.09B | $22.68B |
| 30 | TAP | Molson Coors Beverage Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.07B | $6.76B |
| 31 | DLTR | Dollar Tree, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $1.06B | $21.77B |
| 32 | PFGC | Performance Food Group Company | Consumer Defensive | $1.03B | $14.45B |
| 33 | CAG | Conagra Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.98B | $6.80B |
| 34 | USFD | US Foods Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.96B | $20.27B |
| 35 | JBS | JBS N.V. | Consumer Defensive | $0.83B | $38.16B |
| 36 | EDU | New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.78B | $8.66B |
| 37 | CLX | The Clorox Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.76B | $9.85B |
| 38 | MKC | McCormick & Company, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $0.74B | $13.03B |
| 39 | SFD | Smithfield Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.72B | $7.54B |
| 40 | DAR | Darling Ingredients Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.68B | $9.56B |
| 41 | CPB | The Campbell's Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.68B | $5.98B |
| 42 | COKE | Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.62B | $12.88B |
| 43 | LW | Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.54B | $5.94B |
| 44 | HRL | Hormel Foods Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.53B | $10.99B |
| 45 | ACI | Albertsons Companies, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.53B | $5.65B |
| 46 | INGR | Ingredion Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $0.51B | $6.08B |
| 47 | TAL | TAL Education Group | Consumer Defensive | $0.51B | $6.60B |
| 48 | POST | Post Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.49B | $3.39B |
| 49 | SFM | Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.47B | $5.92B |
| 50 | LRN | Stride, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.43B | $3.19B |
| 51 | CVSA | Covista Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.39B | $4.00B |
| 52 | COTY | Coty Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.35B | $2.36B |
| 53 | CALM | Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.33B | $3.15B |
| 54 | BJ | BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.33B | $12.23B |
| 55 | CELH | Celsius Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.32B | $7.08B |
| 56 | UNFI | United Natural Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.32B | $2.76B |
| 57 | FLO | Flowers Foods, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.32B | $1.20B |
| 58 | PRMB | Primo Brands Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.30B | $7.05B |
| 59 | CENT | Central Garden & Pet Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.29B | $2.48B |
| 60 | ATGE | Adtalem Global Education Inc | Consumer Defensive | $0.29B | $3.40B |
| 61 | LAUR | Laureate Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.26B | $5.18B |
| 62 | BRBR | BellRing Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.26B | $0.90B |
| 63 | HLF | Herbalife Ltd. | Consumer Defensive | $0.25B | $1.32B |
| 64 | MH | McGraw Hill, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.25B | $2.39B |
| 65 | LOPE | Grand Canyon Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.24B | $3.82B |
| 66 | SAM | The Boston Beer Company, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.22B | $1.70B |
| 67 | MZTI | The Marzetti Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.21B | $2.76B |
| 68 | OLLI | Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.19B | $5.08B |
| 69 | IPAR | Interparfums, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.19B | $3.78B |
| 70 | ELF | e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.19B | $6.01B |
| 71 | DMC | Del Monte Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.18B | $1.45B |
| 72 | SPB | Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.17B | $1.90B |
| 73 | SMPL | The Simply Good Foods Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.16B | $0.85B |
| 74 | FIZZ | National Beverage Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.16B | $2.77B |
| 75 | STRA | Strategic Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.15B | $1.69B |
| 76 | RLX | RLX Technology Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.14B | $2.08B |
| 77 | HELE | Helen of Troy Limited | Consumer Defensive | $0.13B | $0.68B |
| 78 | COUR | Coursera, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.11B | $1.23B |
| 79 | PSMT | PriceSmart, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.10B | $5.34B |
| 80 | TR | Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.10B | $2.84B |
| 81 | CHEF | The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.09B | $4.56B |
| 82 | ODD | Oddity Tech Ltd. | Consumer Defensive | $0.08B | $0.81B |
| 83 | JJSF | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.08B | $1.45B |
| 84 | UDMY | Udemy, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.08B | $0.68B |
| 85 | UVV | Universal Corporation | Consumer Defensive | $0.08B | $1.04B |
| 86 | SPTN | SpartanNash Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.07B | $0.91B |
| 87 | UTI | Universal Technical Institute, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.06B | $1.02B |
| 88 | APEI | American Public Education, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.05B | $0.74B |
| 89 | AGRO | Adecoagro S.A. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $1.45B |
| 90 | TPB | Turning Point Brands, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $1.21B |
| 91 | EPC | Edgewell Personal Care Company | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $1.30B |
| 92 | IMKTA | Ingles Markets, Incorporated | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $1.62B |
| 93 | COCO | The Vita Coco Company, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $3.34B |
| 94 | AVO | Mission Produce, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $1.15B |
| 95 | JBSS | John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $0.79B |
| 96 | GOTU | Gaotu Techedu Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.04B | $0.58B |
| 97 | VLGEA | Village Super Market, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.03B | $0.68B |
| 98 | NGVC | Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc. | Consumer Defensive | $0.02B | $0.71B |
| 99 | GO | Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. | Consumer Defensive | $0.02B | $1.10B |
| 100 | STKL | SunOpta Inc | Consumer Defensive | $0.02B | $0.77B |
No companies match this search.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by free cash flow 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.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- 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.