Select Harvests
(ASX: SHV)Share Price and News

About Select Harvests

Select Harvests operates a fully integrated almond business, covering orchard management, processing, branded food production, and export. It owns or leases over 9,300 hectares of almond orchards across Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. The company processes nuts at its state-of-the-art Carina West facility near Robinvale, which can handle over 40,000 tonnes during peak season.

Its brands, including Renshaw and Allinga Farms, supply almonds to more than 600 customers globally, servicing retail, food manufacturing, and health-food chains. Select Harvests employs over 500 people year-round, with workforce numbers peaking during harvest season. Today it is Australia's largest almond grower and processor, and the third largest grower worldwide, exporting to over 600 customers across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Select Harvest's Company History

Founded in 1978 (originally as Defender Limited), Select Harvests evolved from a pure almond grower into a fully integrated agri-food business. As Australian almond acreage expanded - from around 9,000 acres in 1999 to over 60,000 by 2007; SHV grew accordingly, acquiring orchards across Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia.

In 2008, the company invested in its Carina West processing plant and later added Thomastown to support branded nut production. Over time, SHV divested several consumer-facing brands—such as Lucky and Sunsol in 2021—while retaining its core industrial almond portfolio. The 2023 capital raise and logistics upgrade marked key milestones in its continued transformation.

Future Outlook of Select Harvests (ASX: SHV)

Select Harvests' FY2025 full-year results, released in November 2025, marked a genuine inflection point for the business. Despite a crop that came in at 24,903 metric tonnes — down from 29,527 MT in FY24 due to frost damage — a sharp recovery in almond prices more than compensated for the volume shortfall.

The realised almond price rose 32.3% year-on-year to $10.18 per kilogram, driving revenue up 35% to $398.3 million, EBITDA up 81.5% to $82.4 million, and NPAT from just $0.9 million in FY24 to $31.8 million. Critically, management indicated they have not encountered any frost issues for the 2026 crop and had nothing negative to report.

The macro backdrop for FY2026 is increasingly compelling. Management noted the California 2025 crop is tracking 7–8% below receipts from this time last year and well below the Objective Estimate of 3 billion pounds, which is expected to push almond prices even higher in 2026.

Combined with expanded processing capacity of 50,000 MT from 40,000 MT, Select is positioned to capture significantly more volume and revenue in the year ahead than 2025's frost-affected result suggests.

Is SHV a Good Stock to Buy?

Select Harvests is one of the more interesting value propositions on the ASX right now, but it requires investors to accept a degree of commodity and weather exposure that isn't for everyone.

The bull case is straightforward: a structurally tightening global almond supply — driven by California's Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) forcing irrigated farmland out of production — points to elevated almond prices for years, not quarters. Select has a material cost advantage over its Californian peers, with normalised production costs of $6.71 per kilogram versus UC Davis estimates of AU$13.51 per kilogram for California greenfield operations.

The balance sheet trajectory is also encouraging. Management has flagged that their primary near-term capital allocation priority is eliminating the remaining net debt of $79.1 million — with analysts expecting this to be largely achieved by the end of 2026 — at which point the company intends to reinstate dividends and potentially introduce buybacks. The return of capital distributions would likely attract a fresh wave of income-oriented investors and support a meaningful re-rating.

The risks are real, however. Crop volume is inherently unpredictable — 2025 was a painful reminder that a single frost event can materially reduce output. Varroa mite, water security, and foreign exchange exposure all add layers of uncertainty. Management appears increasingly thoughtful about mitigating these risks, sourcing bees from Western Australia where Varroa is absent and investing in water efficiency. At current prices, the stock is not expensive on normalised earnings, but patience is a prerequisite.