Limoneira Company

What they do

Limoneira farms approximately 7,000 acres across Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties in California and Jujuy, Argentina, consisting of about 1,700 acres of lemons, 1,700 acres of avocados and 400 acres of wine grapes. It operates a lemon packinghouse in Santa Paula, California, and holds a 51% interest in Trapani Fresh, a lemon orchard joint venture in Argentina, and a 47% interest in Rosales S.A., a citrus packing, marketing and sales business in Chile. The company reports three business divisions: agribusiness (with four segments: fresh lemons, lemon packing, avocados and other agribusiness), rental operations, and real estate development. It also holds interests in three California real estate development projects with roughly 800 planned housing units.

Revenue drivers

• Fresh lemons — Fiscal Q3 2026 fresh lemon carton sales were $27.3 million on about 1,373,000 cartons at a $19.88 average price per carton, net of the Sunkist marketing fee. That was the largest single revenue line within agribusiness revenues of $42.2 million in the quarter.
• Lemon packing — Limoneira operates its own packinghouse in Santa Paula, packing lemons it grows and lemons grown by others; under the Sunkist Commercial Packinghouse License Agreement effective November 1, 2025, it also grades, packs and ships Sunkist grower lemons. Management notes a significant portion of packing costs are fixed, so cost per carton depends on fruit throughput.
• Avocados — Limoneira grows avocados and sells them to third-party packinghouses; it describes itself as one of the largest avocado growers in the United States according to the California Avocado Commission. Management raised avocado volume guidance for fiscal 2026 and expects more than 10 million pounds in fiscal 2027, about 30% above fiscal 2026.
• Rental operations and other agribusiness — Rental operations include residential and commercial rentals, leased land and organic recycling; other agribusiness primarily includes oranges, specialty citrus and wine grapes. Other operations revenue was $1.6 million in fiscal Q3 2026 versus $1.5 million a year earlier.

Recent performance

For the third quarter of fiscal 2026 ended July 31, 2026, total net revenues were $43.8 million, down from $47.5 million in the prior-year quarter. Agribusiness revenues were $42.2 million versus $45.9 million, with the decline primarily due to lower brokered lemons, oranges and specialty citrus sales after citrus brokerage moved to Sunkist, partly offset by higher fresh carton lemon prices. Fresh lemon carton sales rose to $27.3 million from $23.8 million, with 1,373,000 cartons sold at $19.88 per carton versus 1,397,000 cartons at $17.02 a year earlier. Management said results came in below expectations on lighter-than-anticipated lemon volume, though adjusted EBITDA exceeded the prior-year third quarter. For fiscal year 2025, revenue was $153.7 million and net loss was $16.0 million, compared with revenue of $185.9 million and net income of $7.7 million in fiscal 2024.

Strategy

Management describes a value-creation strategy of growing agriculture income and monetizing land and water assets, and has identified over $200 million of real estate development and non-strategic land assets and certain water rights for potential monetization. Agribusiness initiatives include streamlining operations, expanding avocado production, optimizing lemon packing through the Sunkist partnership, and expanding the organic recycling facility. The company announced an agreement to sell the Windfall Farms vineyard property for $15.0 million in cash via competitive public auction, expected to close September 14, 2026, and targets $10 million in annual SG&A savings. Limoneira also approved a share repurchase program of up to $30.0 million in March 2025 and concluded its formal strategic alternatives process the same month. Priorities include strengthening the balance sheet, reducing debt and redeploying capital into higher-return agribusiness and real estate opportunities.

Risks

• Sunkist marketing dependence — The merger of citrus sales and marketing into Sunkist Growers effective November 1, 2025 reduces Limoneira's control over lemon sales and marketing, and ineffective Sunkist marketing or insufficient resources could lower lemon sales.
• Weather and natural conditions — Lemons, avocados and wine grapes are vulnerable to windstorms, floods, drought and temperature extremes, and unfavorable conditions can reduce both crop size and quality, with entire harvests potentially lost in some areas.
• Water supply and allocation — Limoneira depends on water rights and pumping rights in California basins and Colorado River surface water in Arizona, so disruption of water supplies or changes in water allocations could affect farming operations.
• Debt and cash position — At July 31, 2026, long-term debt was $100.7 million against $2.2 million of cash and equivalents, and the company cites inability to pay debt obligations or maintain compliance with loan covenants as a risk.

Outlook

Management expects another quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA in fiscal Q4 2026 along with additional monetization events, and says its water monetization strategy is on track for a fiscal 2026 event tied to Colorado River water rights. It narrowed full-year fiscal 2026 lemon volume guidance to the lower end due to higher imports and again raised avocado volume guidance for fiscal 2026. For fiscal 2027, management expects avocado production of more than 10 million pounds, roughly 30% above fiscal 2026, driven primarily by 400 acres planted in 2023 and 2024.