Welcome to our dedicated page for Lifeway Food SEC filings (Ticker: LWAY), a comprehensive resource for investors and traders seeking official regulatory documents including 10-K annual reports, 10-Q quarterly earnings, 8-K material events, and insider trading forms.
Lifeway Foods Inc. filings document the regulatory record for an Illinois operating company whose common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol LWAY. Its Form 8-K reports cover operating results, sales estimates, Regulation FD disclosures, material agreements, director appointments and resignations, and compensatory arrangements under the company's 2022 Omnibus Incentive Plan.
Proxy materials describe annual shareholder meeting matters, board and committee governance, executive compensation and equity-plan administration. The filing record also identifies the company's registered securities, including common stock and preferred stock purchase rights, and includes formal disclosures related to financial reporting, governance changes and capital-structure matters.
Lifeway Foods, Inc. reported preliminary unaudited net sales for the first quarter of 2026 of $60.8 million to $62.3 million, a 32% to 35% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025. Management attributes this growth to continued momentum in its core kefir and farmer cheese products and strong demand for protein-rich, probiotic foods.
The company plans to release full first quarter 2026 financial results on May 14, 2026, before the market opens, and will provide a pre-recorded conference call and webcast at 9:00 a.m. ET that day through its investor relations website.
Lifeway Foods, Inc. CFO Eric A. Hanson reported equity compensation activity involving restricted stock units and common shares. He exercised 743 restricted stock units into an equal number of common shares at a conversion price of $0.00 per share and received 743 common shares as a grant or award. To satisfy tax withholding obligations, 285 common shares were surrendered to the company at $18.30 per share, and the footnotes clarify that no stock was sold in the market.
After these transactions, Hanson directly holds 57,494 shares of common stock. He also continues to hold several blocks of unvested restricted stock units that each represent one share of common stock, with scheduled vesting dates through 2029, contingent on his continued service.
Lifeway Foods, Inc. insider Ludmila Smolyansky, a member of a 10% owner group, reported an indirect open-market sale of 10,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $18.74 per share on March 18, 2026. The shares were sold in multiple trades at prices between $18.42 and $19.34.
The transaction was made through the Ludmila Smolyansky Trust 2/1/05, where she serves as trustee, which held 747,823 shares after the sale. Additional indirect holdings include 17,343 shares held by The Smolyansky Family Foundation, where she is trustee, and 750,000 shares held by The Ludmila and Edward Smolyansky Family Foundation, where she is a director and disclaims beneficial ownership of those shares.
Lifeway Foods 10% owner Edward Smolyansky reported an open-market sale of 14,353 shares of common stock on March 19, 2026 at a weighted average price of $17.77 per share. The footnotes state the trades occurred between $17.50 and $18.41.
Following the sale, he directly holds 1,101,642 shares. He also has indirect holdings, including shares beneficially held by the Edward Smolyansky Trust dated 2/2/16, and additional shares held by Smolyansky Holding LLC, where he disclaims beneficial ownership except for any pecuniary interest, plus shares held by his son that he fully disclaims.
LWAY insiders reported proposed and recent sales of Common Stock. A Form 144 lists Common Stock associated with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. The filing shows a historical gift of 750,000 shares on 03/09/2018 and recent dispositions by Edward Smolyansky of 22,313, 13,334 and 7,343 shares on 03/17/2026, 03/16/2026 and 03/11/2026 respectively, with cash proceeds recorded for each trade.
Ludmila Smolyansky submitted a Form 144 notice reporting proposed resale of 10,000 shares of Common Stock on 03/18/2026 through RBC Capital Markets LLC on Nasdaq. The filing also shows a prior sale of 26,431 shares on 12/23/2025 for $645,393.
Lifeway Foods, Inc. 10% owner Edward Smolyansky reported open-market sales of common stock. He sold 13,334 shares on March 16, 2026 at a weighted average price of $20.60 per share and 22,313 shares on March 17, 2026 at a weighted average price of $20.10 per share, for total reported sales of 35,647 shares. Following these transactions, he holds 1,115,995 shares directly. The filing also notes additional indirect holdings through a trust and an LLC, while shares held by a family foundation and by his son are specifically disclaimed for beneficial ownership.
Edward Smolyansky reported sales of Common Stock on behalf of a reporting person. The filing lists a sale of 13,334 shares on 03/16/2026 for $274,680.40 and a sale of 7,343 shares on 03/11/2026 for $155,010.73. The transactions are marked CASH and the securities are listed as Common Stock on NASDAQ.
Lifeway Foods reported a record 2025, with strong growth in sales and profits driven by its kefir business. Full-year net sales reached $212.5 million, up 13.7% year-over-year and about 19% on a comparable basis, marking six consecutive years of volume-led net sales growth. Gross profit margin for 2025 improved to 27.4% from 26.0%, while net income rose 54% to $13.9 million, or $0.89 per diluted share, compared with $0.60 a year earlier.
In the fourth quarter, net sales were $55.4 million, up 18.0% year-over-year, with gross margin expanding 250 basis points to 27.8%. The company generated quarterly net income of $2.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, versus a small loss in the prior-year quarter. Lifeway is investing in marketing, new products such as Lifeway Kefir Butter, and capacity while reiterating a long-term Adjusted EBITDA target of $45–$50 million for fiscal 2027.