"Pickled Pepper Chicken Feet, the No. 1 Stock" Youyou Food's full-year performance grew, but the stock price plummeted: Q4 2025 quarterly performance significantly "slowed down," with non-recurring net profit dropping over 80% year-on-year.

Reporter|Chen Qing

Editor|Jin Mingyu Bi Luming Du Bo Proofreader|Zhang Jinhe

On March 30, the stock price of Youyou Food (SH603697, share price 10.19 yuan, total market cap 4.358 billion yuan)—the “No. 1 share of pickled pepper chicken feet” —opened and then fell all the way, at one point dropping more than 9%, and closed down 6.94%.

In terms of developments, the company disclosed its 2025 annual report on the evening of the previous trading day (March 27). Although both full-year revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company achieved growth, the performance in the fourth quarter “lost momentum” significantly: profit from non-recurring items declined 82.4% year over year, and the quarter-over-quarter decline was even as high as 93.93%.

Meanwhile, the “3·15” gala this year also exposed the chaos surrounding “bleached chicken feet,” pushing the chicken feet industry chain to the forefront of public opinion. As an industry leader, Youyou Food drew widespread attention for a time. With internal and external factors intertwined, can the company escape the performance shadow of the fourth quarter and regain its growth momentum?

A sharp drop in non-recurring profit in Q4 2025

Youyou Food is mainly engaged in the R&D, production, and sales of pickled and marinated-flavor snack foods, with pickled pepper chicken feet as its core and leading product.

According to the company’s 2025 annual report, full-year revenue was 1.589 billion yuan, up 34.39% year over year; net profit attributable to the parent company was 186 million yuan, up 17.94%.

At first glance, the results look good, but on March 30, Youyou Food’s stock price plunged. The low reached 9.94 yuan per share, which is also the company’s new low stock price since the beginning of this year.

On a single-quarter basis, in Q4 2025, Youyou Food achieved revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company of 344 million yuan and 11.7571 million yuan, respectively. Profit from non-recurring items was 3.6956 million yuan. Specifically, in Q4, revenue increased 16.4% year over year, while net profit attributable to the parent company and non-recurring profit after adjustments fell sharply by 67.4% and 82.4% year over year, respectively. Looking at quarter over quarter, in Q4 2025, Youyou Food’s non-recurring profit after adjustments fell by as much as 93.93% quarter over quarter.

Regarding the problem with Q4 performance, on March 30, 2026, a reporter from the Economic Daily News called Youyou Food’s securities department by phone, but the call could not be connected.

According to a research report from Huatai Securities, Youyou Food’s Q4 2025 performance growth rate saw a pullback mainly due to the holiday timing shift around the Spring Festival. Pressure on profits was mainly because one-time investments in process equipment led to an increase in manufacturing expenses, and a one-time settlement of personnel salaries and performance at year-end led to an increase in expenses.

From the data, in Q4 2025, Youyou Food’s gross margin was 19.93%. Compared with the gross margin level of 26%—29% in each of the first three quarters, it clearly declined. Under these circumstances, in 2025, Youyou Food’s gross margin was 25.78%, down 3.45 percentage points from 2024’s 29.23%.

The company just went through a general manager change at the end of last year

On March 15, the CCTV “3·15” gala exposed the dark side of chicken feet processing in the Sichuan-Chongqing area: the surface was clean and full, but behind it were messy production workshops and illegal bleaching processes.

As the “No. 1 share of pickled pepper chicken feet,” Youyou Food has also attracted attention from the outside. Then, against the backdrop of pressure on Youyou Food’s Q4 2025 performance and a tightening industry atmosphere, can the company quickly shake off the gloom?

At the end of last year, Youyou Food had just gone through a leadership change. According to the announcement, on November 17, 2025, the company held an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, electing the fifth session of the board of directors. On the same day, the board meeting elected Lu Youzhong as chairman and hired Lu You as general manager. Lu XIn, the daughter of Lu Youzhong—who had previously served as a director—did not appear in the list of the new session of the board of directors.

The leadership change has been speculated by outsiders as arrangements related to succession. However, the company responded that this board of directors change was a normal arrangement based on the company’s strategic development. The appointment of the new general manager, Lu You, was a cautious decision made by the board based on the company’s long-term development needs and considerations of younger and more professional management. The company’s overall management team remains stable.

Public information shows that Lu You is currently 38 years old. He graduated from Southwest University with a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Engineering. He previously worked in the company’s R&D department. Later, he obtained a master’s degree in food science from Illinois Institute of Technology in the United States. From 2019 to 2025, he served as the company’s deputy general manager.

Regarding the company’s future development, at the 2025 third-quarter performance briefing, Lu You replied that after taking up the role, he and his team will continue to adhere to the company’s established strategic direction, strengthen strategic execution, and, on the basis of consolidating advantages in the core business, actively promote product innovation and channel expansion. They will also explore new performance growth points to inject new momentum for the company’s long-term steady development.

Youyou Food’s annual report also stated that in 2026, the company will further optimize supply chain collaboration efficiency, continuously deepen its national market layout, keep enriching its product portfolio, cultivate diversified growth drivers, and steadily enhance its overall competitive strength and risk resilience.

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