Celsius (CELH) stock jumps in premarket after Q4 earnings; margins and PepsiCo integration back in focus

February 26, 2026
Celsius (CELH) stock jumps in premarket after Q4 earnings; margins and PepsiCo integration back in focus

New York, Feb 26, 2026, 06:30 ET — Pre-market hours

  • Celsius Holdings surged about 17% in premarket action following the release of its Q4 and full-year results. (Public)
  • Energy drink sales shot up, pushing full-year revenue to about $2.52 billion—an 86% leap, fueled mostly by partnerships with Alani Nu and Rockstar Energy. (SEC)
  • The company’s management team plans to discuss the results on a webcast, kicking off at 8:00 a.m. ET. (SEC)

Celsius Holdings, Inc. surged about 17% premarket Thursday after posting a solid fourth quarter and record annual revenue—alleviating some of the worries swirling around distribution shake-ups and integration. By 6:30 a.m. ET, shares were trading close to $59.40, a jump from the $50.61 finish on Wednesday. (Public)

Celsius is front and center as it navigates two major shifts: Alani Nu and Rockstar Energy have entered the scene for the U.S. and Canadian markets, and the brand is moving further into PepsiCo’s distribution system. Investors are trying to separate real demand from bumps caused by shipment timing or those one-off transition expenses. (SEC)

Margins remain unpredictable. The company’s been blunt—distributor exits and ongoing integration efforts can throw off the quarter’s figures, while store sales mostly hold steady. That gap is what traders are zeroing in on for the call. (SEC)

Celsius posted fourth-quarter revenue of about $721.6 million, up 117% from a year ago. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.26, using a non-GAAP measure that strips out certain costs. Adjusted EBITDA hit $134.1 million, a sign of stronger cash profit. (SEC)

For 2025, revenue surged 86% to almost $2.52 billion. GAAP net income hit $108.0 million. The company also posted adjusted diluted EPS of $1.34 and adjusted EBITDA of $619.6 million. (SEC)

Wall Street had been looking for Celsius to deliver earnings of $0.19 a share on $639.14 million in revenue, according to a survey from Investing.com. Ahead of the numbers, Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery wrote that Celsius “looks well-positioned to beat 4Q25 estimates.” (Investing.com Canada)

Chief executive John Fieldly called it “a defining year” as Celsius posted “record full-year revenue of $2.5 billion.” For the fourth quarter, the company pegged its U.S. dollar share of the energy drink market at about 20%. (SEC)

Gross margin slipped to 47.4% for the quarter, dropping from 50.2% a year earlier—a decline of 280 basis points, or 2.8 percentage points. Celsius blamed the hit on integration costs, tariffs, and dilution from Rockstar. The company says it aims to finish integrating Alani Nu by the end of Q1 2026 and wrap up Rockstar by the close of Q2. After that, Celsius projects gross margin will bounce back to the low 50s. (SEC)

Celsius called out expenses tied to changing up its distributor network. By the close of the fourth quarter, it estimated its remaining buyout obligation—stemming from past distributor exits—at about $327.5 million. The company recognized $80.8 million of that in the quarter. (SEC)

Alani Nu began moving into PepsiCo’s U.S. and Canadian distribution system on Dec. 1, the company said. Fast forward to the week ending Feb. 1: ACV, the metric measuring retail coverage by store sales, had jumped to 94.2%. (SEC)

Brand momentum turned uneven in the quarter. Celsius flagged an 8% decline in core CELSIUS revenue, blaming order timing with its top distributor. Still, U.S. retail sales over the 13-week stretch ending Dec. 28 rose 13%. Alani Nu landed close to $370 million in Q4 sales. Rockstar posted around $45 million. (SEC)

The company dipped into its balance sheet this quarter, clearing $197.8 million in debt and picking up $39.8 million of its shares. (SEC)

A strong open isn’t guaranteed. Any hint that the shipment “misalignment” with its top distributor hasn’t cleared up—or that those termination costs and tariff pressures aren’t going away soon—could sap the premarket bid. And energy drink rivals are still pressing.

Investors zero in on the 8:00 a.m. ET webcast, pressing for details: 2026 margin guidance, how the integration is actually unfolding, and when shipment figures are expected to match up with sell-through as Celsius pushes deeper into PepsiCo’s distribution. (SEC)