Celsius Holdings (CELH) Stock on December 9, 2025: Q3 Earnings, Buyback, Innovation Push and 2026 Forecast

Celsius Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CELH) is back in the spotlight. After a violent post‑earnings sell‑off in November, the energy‑drink disruptor has stabilized around the mid‑$40s, while fundamentals continue to show triple‑digit revenue growth, expanding gross margins, and a rapidly evolving brand portfolio that now includes Alani Nu and Rockstar Energy. ^[1]

As of the morning of December 9, 2025, CELH trades near $44–45 per share, well below its 52‑week high but still up strongly year to date, and Wall Street’s average 12‑month price targets imply roughly 40–42% upside from here. ^[2]

This article summarizes the latest news, forecasts, and analysis on Celsius Holdings stock as of December 9, 2025, and outlines the key opportunities and risks investors are debating.

CELH stock price and valuation snapshot (9 December 2025)

Recent price data and basic fundamentals paint a picture of a high‑growth consumer name that still commands a premium valuation:

Last close (Dec 8): $44.30, up 5.33% on the day; pre‑market quotes early on Dec 9 indicated slight additional gains. ^[3]
Real‑time quote (Dec 9, ~10:16 UTC): about $44.30.
52‑week range: $21.10 – $66.74, indicating the stock has nearly doubled from its lows but remains well under its 2025 peak. ^[4]
Market cap: roughly $11.4 billion. ^[5]

On the fundamentals side, trailing‑twelve‑month (TTM) figures aggregated by StockAnalysis show: revenue of $2.13 billion, net income of about $31 million, EPS of $0.13, and a trailing P/E above 350x—numbers heavily distorted by acquisition‑related and distributor termination charges in 2025. ^[6]

Looking forward, the market is clearly paying for growth:

Forward P/E: ~28–32x, depending on data provider. ^[7]
Zacks estimates imply earnings growth of ~80% in 2025 and ~20.7% in 2026, even after a noisy transition year. ^[8]
Yet CELH still trades at roughly 2x the sector multiple, with Zacks citing a forward P/E of 28.03 vs. an industry average of 14.38 for non‑alcoholic beverages. ^[9]

In other words: this is still a growth stock wearing a growth‑stock multiple, but that multiple has compressed significantly from the euphoria levels seen when CELH traded around $100 in 2024. ^[10]

Q3 2025: explosive growth, noisy bottom line

The story of Celsius in late 2025 starts with its third‑quarter 2025 earnings, reported on November 6.

Revenue and margin performance

For Q3 2025 (quarter ended Sept. 30), Celsius reported: ^[11]

Revenue: $725.1 million, up 173% year over year from $265.7 million.
North America revenue: $702.0 million, up 184%.
International revenue: $23.1 million, up 24%.
Gross margin:51.3%, up from 46.0% a year ago, driven by lower net promotional spend, mix shift, and scale benefits.

Adjusted profitability was equally eye‑catching:

Adjusted EBITDA: $205.6 million vs. $4.4 million a year earlier.
Non‑GAAP adjusted EPS:$0.42, up from $0.00 in Q3 2024 and ahead of the roughly $0.28 consensus estimate cited by several analysts. ^[12]

At the retail level, the combined Celsius/Alani Nu/Rockstar portfolio grabbed a 20.8% dollar share of the U.S. ready‑to‑drink energy category over the 13 weeks ending September 28, 2025, up 2.1 percentage points year on year. ^[13]

CELSIUS brand share: 11.2%, with 13% retail sales growth.
Alani Nu: 7.2% share, with 114% retail sales growth.
Rockstar: 2.4% share, declining modestly. ^[14]

Those numbers position Celsius firmly as a top‑tier U.S. energy‑drink platform rather than a niche upstart.

Why GAAP earnings went negative

Despite the blowout top line and strong gross margins, GAAP net income flipped to a loss:

Q3 2025 diluted EPS: –$0.27, versus $0.00 a year earlier. ^[15]
The culprit: $246.7 million in distributor termination costs, primarily related to moving Alani Nu distribution into PepsiCo’s system. ^[16]

PepsiCo has agreed to reimburse these termination payments, leaving Celsius net cash neutral on the process over time. But accounting rules require Celsius to book the termination costs immediately on the income statement, while the PepsiCo reimbursement is amortized over the life of the distribution agreement. ^[17]

This timing mismatch is exactly the kind of thing markets hate: reported GAAP earnings look awful in the near term even as underlying cash economics remain solid.

The post‑earnings sell‑off and $300 million buyback

Investors reacted harshly to that accounting noise:

Immediately following the Q3 release, CELH fell roughly 25–30% in a single session, erasing a big chunk of its year‑to‑date gains. ^[18]
Articles from outlets like Invezz and The Motley Fool highlighted decelerating scanner‑data growth for the legacy Celsius brand and raised questions around inventory build‑ups at retailers and the complexity of integrating multiple brands at once. ^[19]

On November 10, the board responded with a $300 million share repurchase authorization. ^[20]

In announcing the program, CEO John Fieldly framed the buyback as a way to act when there’s a “disconnect” between CELH’s market valuation and the strength of the business, while still maintaining ample capacity to invest in growth and reduce debt. ^[21]

The market took the hint: Benzinga reported that Celsius shares were “bouncing back from a steep sell‑off” as the buyback news broke, even though the core concerns about integration costs and distribution transitions remained. ^[22]

2025 execution update: integration progress and market share

The next major update came on December 3, 2025, when Celsius issued a Business Wire release ahead of its appearance at the Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference. ^[23]

Key points from that update:

The Celsius portfolio reached a 20.2% U.S. energy‑category dollar share in the 12 weeks ended November 23, 2025.
Portfolio retail sales grew 25.5%, outpacing the broader energy‑drink category’s 13.7% growth over the same period. ^[24]
The Alani Nu transition into PepsiCo’s direct‑store‑delivery system has surpassed 80% of U.S. business as of Dec. 1, 2025, with completion still targeted for the end of Q1 2026. ^[25]

CFO Jarrod Langhans and Chief of Staff Toby David used the Morgan Stanley conference to reiterate that integration plans and timing remain consistent with prior guidance, attempting to reassure investors who fear the transition could derail near‑term results. ^[26]

Innovation pipeline: going beyond classic energy drinks

The freshest narrative around Celsius this week is about innovation, not just integration.

On December 8, Zacks published a detailed look at the company’s innovation pipeline, carried on Nasdaq under the headline “Celsius Holdings Innovation Pipeline Expands Beyond Energy Core.” ^[27]

Highlights:

Alani Nu remains the standout growth engine, driven by limited‑time flavors:
- The “Witches Brew” seasonal flavor delivered record sell‑through, more than doubling last year’s performance.
- New holiday flavor “Winter Wonderland” is reportedly seeing strong early engagement. ^[28]
The Celsius brand itself is pushing beyond its core SKUs:
- Spritz Vibe, the brand’s first limited‑drop line, has seen strong traction in the U.S. and Canada.
- A refresh of the Fizz Free line and a stream of launches in markets like the Nordics are widening consumption occasions and global relevance. ^[29]
Management increasingly positions Celsius, Celsius Essentials, Alani Nu and Rockstar as distinct but complementary roles within a growing functional‑beverage platform—now supported by PepsiCo’s distribution muscle and retailer enthusiasm at trade shows like NACS. ^[30]

Zacks notes that shares of Celsius are up 59.7% year to date (as of early December), compared with a 15.8% decline for the broader non‑alcoholic beverages industry, but also flags valuation concerns: CELH trades at a forward P/E of about 28x versus the industry’s ~14x, and carries only a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) despite robust growth forecasts. ^[31]

Institutional flows and insider moves: who’s buying CELH now?

One of the more notable December developments is the wave of institutional activity in Celsius stock.

MarketBeat’s news feed shows a string of recent filings: ^[32]

Hood River Capital Management, Divisadero Street Capital, Marshall Wace, Russell Investments, Jump Financial and others have opened or increased positions in CELH during the second half of 2025.
A December 5 article highlights Mirabella Financial Services LLP, which established a new position of 34,996 shares (~$1.6 million) in Q2, while noting that hedge funds and other institutions now own about 60.95% of Celsius’ outstanding stock. ^[33]

Insider activity has been mixed:

Director Hal Kravitz bought 10,000 shares at $45.24, increasing his stake to over 216,000 shares.
CFO Jarrod Langhans sold 5,000 shares at $65, in a transaction prior to the big November sell‑off. ^[34]

These moves will be interpreted differently depending on one’s bias: optimists point to aggressive institutional accumulation and insider buying near current levels, while skeptics highlight earlier insider selling at much higher prices as a warning sign.

What Wall Street is saying: ratings and price targets

Across Wall Street, the tone on Celsius is cautiously bullish, with major differences in price targets but broad agreement that the company’s growth profile is rare in consumer staples.

Consensus ratings and targets

MarketBeat’s dedicated CELH forecast page (updated through early December) shows: ^[35]

Consensus rating:Moderate Buy based on 25 analysts.
- 20 Buy
- 3 Hold
- 2 Sell
Average 12‑month price target:$62.95.
- High: $90.00
- Low: $32.00
The average target implies about 42% upside from the ~$44.30 current level used in their calculation.

StockAnalysis aggregates a slightly smaller analyst set and arrives at: ^[36]

Consensus rating: Strong Buy from 18 analysts.
Average target:$62.39, implying ~41% upside from the latest price.

On the more detailed side, a GuruFocus summary of JPMorgan’s October 24 note reports that: ^[37]

JPMorgan reaffirmed an Overweight rating and raised its price target from $68 to $76.
Other 2025 ratings include:
- BofA Securities: Underperform, target raised from $40 to $55.
- Morgan Stanley: upgraded from Equal‑Weight to Overweight, target $70.
- Goldman Sachs: initiated Buy with a $72 target.
- Piper Sandler and Truist: Overweight/Buy with targets in the high‑$60s to $70.

GuruFocus also cites an average one‑year target around $67.83 at the time of that report, with its internal “GF Value” model suggesting long‑term fair value over $130—a highly optimistic outlier. ^[38]

Finally, retail‑broker data from Public.com shows 19 analysts with an overall “Buy” rating and a 2025 price prediction around $61.53. ^[39]

Valuation debate

Media coverage reflects this split between “this is a screaming buy” and “slow down, the valuation still bites”:

A December 3 article on 24/7 Wall St. argued that Celsius “is starting to look like a screaming buy,” noting the 173% revenue growth, >51% gross margins, and a forward P/E “of just 26x” as reasons the stock may be mispriced after its collapse from ~$100 to the $40s. ^[40]
Zacks and others, while impressed by the Q3 numbers, emphasize that CELH still trades at roughly double the sector multiple, and thus carries significant execution risk if growth slows faster than expected. ^[41]

Technical picture and short interest

For those watching the tape rather than just the income statement, technical and positioning data are… spicy.

AI‑driven analytics site Intellectia describes CELH’s technical profile on December 9, 2025 as follows: ^[42]

Trend: An uptrend that began in mid‑October, but with an overall price change of –28% across that broader period due to the post‑earnings gap.
Signals: 3 bullish vs. 5 bearish technical signals; the overall technical rating skews “Sell” despite short‑term momentum.
Moving averages:
- Price is above the 5‑day and 20‑day averages (short‑term bullish).
- The 20‑day SMA is below the 60‑day SMA (mid‑term bearish).
Key levels:
- Resistance zones around $45.79 and $48.61.
- Support around $36.69 and $33.87.

More worrying for risk‑averse investors, Intellectia notes a short‑sale ratio of about 26.94% as of December 5, and characterizes short‑selling activity as rising even as the share price ticked up, implying that many traders are still betting against Celsius in the short to medium term. ^[43]

Combined with Celsius’ history of large single‑day moves, that kind of short interest can lead to either brutal downdrafts or violent short squeezes.

Key risks investors are watching

Despite strong growth, Celsius is not a low‑risk proposition. Major risk themes in current research include:

1. Integration and distribution “noise”

Celsius is simultaneously:

Completing the Alani Nu transition into PepsiCo’s distribution network.
Integrating Rockstar Energy after its August acquisition.
Managing inventory normalization after a prior year of distributor inventory optimization. ^[44]

Management and Seeking Alpha commentary have warned that Q4 2025 and early 2026 will be “noisy”, with reported revenue potentially diverging from underlying consumer sell‑through as old distributors wind down inventory and PepsiCo builds stock. ^[45]

If that noise is worse than expected—or if scanner‑data growth visibly decelerates—both the growth story and the premium valuation could be questioned.

2. Sustainability of >50% gross margins

Nasdaq/Zacks analysis calls out the 51.3% Q3 gross margin as a clear positive but asks whether it is fully sustainable: the jump reflects mix, lower promotional intensity and scale, but also coexists with new brands (Alani Nu, Rockstar) that may structurally have lower margins and exposure to tariffs. ^[46]

Any normalization downward would not be catastrophic, but when a stock trades at >28x forward earnings, even a small compression in margin expectations can hit the multiple.

3. Valuation vs peers

Even after the sell‑off, CELH trades at:

Forward P/E roughly 2x sector averages.
A premium on metrics like price‑to‑sales and EV/EBITDA relative to established beverage giants. ^[47]

That is defendable so long as Celsius grows much faster than PepsiCo, Coca‑Cola, Monster and others—but it raises the bar for execution. If growth drops into the “merely good” rather than “hypergrowth” range, valuation could contract again.

4. Volatility and short interest

The 30% post‑earnings gap down, high short‑selling ratio, and concentration of institutional ownership mean Celsius is structurally more volatile than a typical consumer‑staples name. ^[48]

For investors who associate beverages with “defensive” stocks, CELH is a different beast entirely.

Bottom line: where Celsius stock stands on December 9, 2025

Putting it all together:

The business: Q3 2025 confirmed that Celsius is now a multi‑brand energy and functional‑beverage platform with triple‑digit revenue growth, >50% gross margins, and rising U.S. category share above 20%. ^[49]
The near term: GAAP earnings are temporarily messy due to distributor termination costs and acquisition accounting, and management itself calls Q4 “noisy” as Alani Nu and Rockstar are fully integrated. ^[50]
The market’s stance: The stock has already been punished—down from highs near $100 to the mid‑$40s—but remains up strongly year to date and still trades at a premium multiple. Analyst consensus is broadly positive, with average price targets in the low‑$60s and some high‑profile banks reiterating Overweight or Buy ratings with targets in the $70–80 range. ^[51]
Risk profile: Heavy volatility, high short interest, and ongoing integration risk mean Celsius is not a quiet, low‑beta consumer stock—it behaves more like a growth tech name wrapped in an energy‑drink can. ^[52]

For growth‑oriented investors comfortable with short‑term turbulence, CELH on December 9, 2025 represents a rare combination: a consumer‑staples business with tech‑like growth, a cleaner balance sheet, and a still‑elevated but markedly lower valuation than a year ago. For more conservative or valuation‑sensitive investors, the message from current research is equally clear: the story is compelling, but the margin for error remains narrow.

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