3 Reasons to Sell UNF and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

3 Reasons to Sell UNF and 1 Stock to Buy Instead

Anthony Lee

Tue, February 24, 2026 at 1:01 PM GMT+9 3 min read

In this article:

UNF

-1.62%

^GSPC

-1.04%

UniFirst’s 32.9% return over the past six months has outpaced the S&P 500 by 25.6%, and its stock price has climbed to $234.25 per share. This performance may have investors wondering how to approach the situation.

Is now the time to buy UniFirst, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Get the full breakdown from our expert analysts, it’s free.

Why Is UniFirst Not Exciting?

We’re glad investors have benefited from the price increase, but we don’t have much confidence in UniFirst. Here are three reasons there are better opportunities than UNF and a stock we’d rather own.

1. Lackluster Revenue Growth

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within business services, a stretched historical view may miss recent innovations or disruptive industry trends. UniFirst’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 3.5% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. We’re wary when companies in the sector see decelerations in revenue growth, as it could signal changing consumer tastes aided by low switching costs.

UniFirst Year-On-Year Revenue Growth

2. Projected Revenue Growth Is Slim

Forecasted revenues by Wall Street analysts signal a company’s potential. Predictions may not always be accurate, but accelerating growth typically boosts valuation multiples and stock prices while slowing growth does the opposite.

Over the next 12 months, sell-side analysts expect UniFirst’s revenue to rise by 2.5%, close to its 6.5% annualized growth for the past five years. This projection is underwhelming and implies its newer products and services will not accelerate its top-line performance yet.

3. EPS Barely Growing

Analyzing the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) shows whether a company’s incremental sales were profitable – for example, revenue could be inflated through excessive spending on advertising and promotions.

UniFirst’s EPS grew at a weak 2.1% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, lower than its 6.5% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded.

UniFirst Trailing 12-Month EPS (GAAP)

Final Judgment

UniFirst isn’t a terrible business, but it isn’t one of our picks. With its shares outperforming the market lately, the stock trades at 32.7× forward P/E (or $234.25 per share). This valuation tells us a lot of optimism is priced in - we think there are better opportunities elsewhere. We’d suggest looking at the Amazon and PayPal of Latin America.

Stocks We Would Buy Instead of UniFirst

The market’s up big this year - but there’s a catch. Just 4 stocks account for half the S&P 500’s entire gain. That kind of concentration makes investors nervous, and for good reason. While everyone piles into the same crowded names, smart investors are hunting quality where no one’s looking - and paying a fraction of the price. Check out the high-quality names we’ve flagged in our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 244% over the last five years (as of June 30, 2025).

Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,326% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

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