Post Holdings, Inc. POST

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
68/100
Moderate

About Post Holdings, Inc.

Post Holdings, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, and Refrigerated Retail segments. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereals under Honey Bunches of Oats, Pebbles, and Malt-O-Meal brands; hot cereal; peanut butter under the … Full POST analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.91), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Cost Leadership Position Operating margin at 89.4th percentile with strong OpEx control demonstrates cost leadership.

Key risks

  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.40), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Strong
80

Where POST ranks in Packaged Foods

Post Holdings, Inc. ranks #19 of 73 scored companies in Packaged Foods by moat score — the top 26%. The widest moat in the group is McCormick & Company, Incorporat (MKC-V) at 79/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near POST in Packaged Foods
# Company Moat score Rating
15 Lifeway Foods, Inc. LWAY 69/100 Moderate
16 Nomad Foods Limited NOMD 69/100 Moderate
17 FitLife Brands, Inc. FTLF 68/100 Moderate
18 Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC 68/100 Moderate
19 Post Holdings, Inc. POST 68/100 Moderate
20 Freshpet, Inc. FRPT 67/100 Moderate
21 Lifevantage Corporation LFVN 67/100 Moderate
22 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. LW 66/100 Moderate
23 Hormel Foods Corporation HRL 63/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How POST scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 80 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 79 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 66 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 59 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 51 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 71 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding POST's moat

What is Post Holdings, Inc.'s moat score?

Post Holdings, Inc. (POST) scores 68 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #19 of 73 scored companies in Packaged Foods, the top 26%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 72 companies in Packaged Foods. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (80/100) and its weakest is Resilience (51/100).

How does Post Holdings, Inc. compare with other Packaged Foods companies?

Post Holdings, Inc. ranks #19 of 73 scored companies in Packaged Foods by moat score. The widest moat in Packaged Foods is McCormick & Company, Incorporat (MKC-V) at 79/100. The companies ranked closest are Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PPC) at 68 just above it and Freshpet, Inc. (FRPT) at 67 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 72 companies in Packaged Foods. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Post Holdings, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Post Holdings, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and POST scores: Pricing Power (80), Cost Advantage (79), Customer Stickiness (66), Capital Efficiency (59), Resilience (51), Scale & Market Position (71). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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