HelloFresh SE

Q2 2026 group revenue was EUR 1.5 billion, down 7.8% in constant currency. Group adjusted EBITDA was EUR 120.6 million, with a 7.8% margin; group contribution margin was 25.2%, down 2.1 percentage points year over year. Meal kit adjusted EBITDA was EUR 167 million, with a 15.1% margin, and ready-to-eat adjusted EBITDA was EUR 13.1 million, with a 3% margin. In H1 2026, free cash flow was positive at EUR 49.4 million and CapEx was EUR 76.7 million, up from EUR 66 million in H1 2025. Management reconfirmed full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance and said constant-currency revenue is trending toward the bottom end of the full-year range; it expects H2 to be materially more favorable for free cash flow than H2 2025.

Dominik Richter framed the quarter as part of a multiyear rebuild: first fix the cost base, then reinvest into product, then return to growth when the data supports it. He emphasized that HelloFresh is using H1 to broaden the product set, improve personalization, and expand the addressable market, even if that creates short-term pressure on revenue and margins. His tone was patient and strategic, repeatedly stressing that the company is not managing for a single quarter and that growth will be re-accelerated only with conviction backed by data.

Fabien Simon focused on the numbers and on the path to H2 improvement. He said 85% of the planned EUR 300 million efficiency program had been implemented by end-June, while Q2 group contribution margin fell to 25.2% because of deliberate front-loaded product investment. He highlighted that Q2 AOV rose 6.5% to EUR 71, H1 free cash flow remained positive at EUR 49.4 million, CapEx rose to EUR 76.7 million, and the company issued a EUR 350 million bond in July with a 5.5% coupon maturing in 2031 to extend maturities and diversify funding. He also said the company still expects positive full-year free cash flow and reaffirmed full-year adjusted EBITDA.

Analysts pushed on why meal kit revenue did not improve in Q2 and whether H2 growth requires easier marketing assumptions. Management said the quarter was broadly in line with expectations, that higher ROI hurdles were intentional in an uncertain cost environment, and that back-to-school will be the next key read on conversion and marketing efficiency. Another focus was the gap between H1 and the implied H2 EBITDA improvement; Simon said roughly EUR 24 million of H2 year-on-year improvement is needed at the midpoint, with a potential EUR 10 million to EUR 20 million improvement already visible in Q3. On cohort behavior, management explained that higher AOV and order rates are being offset by fewer new customers converting into long-tenured cohorts, which is why stable tenured revenue can coexist with weaker overall top-line growth.