Is CHEF a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how CHEF compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to CHEF based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes CHEF a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

CHEF - The Chefs' Warehouse, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $83.33 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C 55.2 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

D+ 42.0

5yr Avg ROIC 3.7% 28/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.62 pp/yr 74/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

F 26.4

5yr Avg ROE 6.1% 41/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 5.8% 0/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

A+ 100.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 24.2% 100/100
5yr EPS CAGR 32.0% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

D 38.7

5yr FCF Margin 0.1% 26/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.60x 55/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

C- 47.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 4.73x 19/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 3.49x 50/100
Altman Z-Score 4.22 96/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

B- 63.4

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.55 26/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

1 of 2 gurus held; 1 added; 2 full exits.

Holders: 1 -1
Avg Δ position: +10.0%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 2

Greenblatt sold -100%
Wood sold -100%
Cooperman increased +10%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.