Most celebrity business ventures are licensing deals wearing a founder’s costume. The name goes on the label, the cheque clears, and an operating company nobody has heard of does the actual work.

Jennifer Garner’s is not that. On 6 February 2026, she rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange as Once Upon A Farm went public at $18 per share with a valuation of $724 million.

The company she co-founded is now a listed public entity with audited financials, a board seat in her name, and a stock price that has since gone down. That last detail is the most interesting part of the story.

Key Takeaways

• The IPO: Once Upon A Farm listed on the NYSE as OFRM, raising $197.9 million at the midpoint of its marketed range.
• The pop: shares closed day one up about 17%, then traded at $25.10 by 9 February — nearly 40% above the listing price.
• The reality check: the stock was down about 15% for the year by August 2026.
• The business is real: $225 million in annual revenue for the year ending September 2025, up more than 40%.
• Her role is contractual and disclosed: board director, co-founder and spokesperson, with compensation set out in the S-1.

What Once Upon A Farm Actually Is

The company sells organic, cold-pressed refrigerated food for children — pouches, smoothies, applesauce and oat bars — through grocery retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

It was founded by serial entrepreneurs Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz, with Garner and CEO John Foraker joining as co-founders two years later. Foraker’s background matters to the credibility of the operation: he ran Annie’s Homegrown for more than a decade and served as a president at General Mills.

Note: founding-date reporting varies between 2011 and 2015 depending on the source. Verify before publication.

The Financial Trajectory

A compound annual growth rate above 60% sustained over seven years is not a celebrity endorsement outcome. It is a consumer packaged goods outcome — and CPG is one of the hardest categories in which to build distribution from scratch.

What Her Actual Job Is

This is where the Once Upon A Farm story diverges most sharply from the celebrity-brand template, because the terms are public.

The S-1 discloses that Garner serves on the public company’s board of directors and continues as co-founder and spokesperson — “Farmer Jen” — a role for which she was paid $1 million in the prior year, with $2 million to $3 million in expected annual compensation through 2028, separate from stock options and an IPO-linked bonus.

She also worked the roadshow directly. Garner described the investor meetings to Forbes as rooms full of existing customers, noting that families already trusted the product.

That is a meaningful distinction for anyone assessing celebrity-backed companies. There is a difference between a founder who licenses a likeness and a founder who sits on the board, pitches institutional investors and has compensation disclosed in a registration statement.

The Mission Structure

Once Upon A Farm is a public benefit corporation — the “PBC” in its legal name — which means its charter permits management to weigh mission alongside shareholder returns.

Garner has framed the IPO itself as a mission decision. Selling to a major food conglomerate would have cost the existing team control of the business; a listing preserved it while raising capital.

The concrete expression of that mission is WIC certification. Getting products approved so low-income families can purchase them through the federal nutrition programme has been a stated priority, and the brand now holds that distinction in more than 20 states. Garner has called it the company’s north star.

It connects to a longer track record — she had been a trustee for Save the Children for several years before joining the company in 2017.

The Risks the Prospectus Discloses

A public listing forces disclosure that private celebrity ventures never face. Three risks stand out.

Tariff and sourcing exposure. The prospectus highlighted risks related to tariffs and trade barriers, particularly against Mexico and South America, from where the company sources a significant portion of its fruit and vegetable ingredients.

Key-person concentration. A brand built substantially on one founder’s public identity carries a risk no diversified CPG company does.

Acquisition framing. Ahead of the listing, Hedgeye analyst Bennett Cheer characterised the company as an acquisition “play” — a view that treats the IPO as a staging post toward a strategic sale rather than a destination.

The Post-IPO Slide, and What It Tells You

The stock’s path is the honest part of this story. Priced at $18, up 17% on day one, close to $25 within a week, then down roughly 15% for the year by August.

Garner’s stated response has been to ignore the daily price and focus on execution — her position being that the stock follows the mission rather than the reverse.

Whether or not one finds that convincing as investor communication, the underlying pattern is common and worth understanding. Consumer IPOs frequently pop on scarcity — the listing was described as a rare food offering that excited investors — and then reprice once the float settles and quarterly results replace the narrative.

For investors, the lesson generalises. A founder’s celebrity generates demand at listing. It does not generate gross margin.

The Broader Commercial Portfolio

Beyond Once Upon A Farm, Garner’s commercial activity follows a consistent pattern: long-term brand relationships rather than one-off endorsements.

She has been the recurring face of Capital One’s advertising campaigns, continuing through 2026. She brokered Once Upon A Farm’s first sports sponsorship in 2024 — a multi-year deal making it Angel City FC’s exclusive children’s snack partner.

She was named to the Forbes 50 Over 50 class of 2026 at age 54, alongside continued acting work.

What This Means for the Global Market in 2027

Coverage of celebrity businesses stops at the launch. Here is what actually determines outcomes.

Public listing is the real test of a celebrity brand. Private valuations are negotiated; public ones are voted on daily. Expect more celebrity-founded consumer companies to attempt listings after this precedent — and expect most to trade below their debut.

Governance disclosure becomes the differentiator. Once Upon A Farm published its founder compensation structure. Investors evaluating the next celebrity IPO should ask for the same and treat its absence as a signal.

Tariff exposure is the underpriced risk in food CPG. Companies sourcing produce from Mexico and South America face input volatility that margin models built in a stable trade environment do not capture.

The PBC structure will be tested. A public benefit corporation’s mission commitments have not yet been stress-tested against a sustained share price decline. Once Upon A Farm may become the case study.

Acquisition remains the likely endgame. If the Hedgeye thesis holds, a strategic buyer eventually acquires the brand. The question for shareholders is whether that happens above or below the $18 listing price.

Frequently Asked Questions

What company did Jennifer Garner found?

Garner is a co-founder and chief brand officer of Once Upon A Farm, an organic children’s food company. She joined in September 2017 alongside CEO John Foraker; the business was originally founded by Cassandra Curtis and Ari Raz.

When did Once Upon A Farm go public?

The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker OFRM on 6 February 2026, pricing at $18 per share for a valuation of $724 million and raising $197.9 million.

How much revenue does Once Upon A Farm generate?

The company reported $225 million in annual revenue for the year ending September 2025, representing growth of more than 40% year-on-year and a compound annual growth rate above 60% since 2018.

Is Jennifer Garner paid by Once Upon A Farm?

Yes, and the terms are disclosed. She was paid $1 million in the year before the IPO, with $2 million to $3 million in expected annual compensation through 2028, separate from stock options and an IPO-linked bonus.

Horror took 12.1% of US ticket sales in 2025, up from 9.8%. Inside the ROI gap between indie horror and studio blockbusters, and what 2026 changed.Horror is the only major genre currently increasing both its supply of films and its total grosses, while mid-budget production declines everywhere else. That single fact explains most of what is happening to theatrical distribution strategy.

Executive Summary / Key Takeaways

• Horror accounted for 12.1% of US domestic ticket sales in 2025, up from 9.8% in 2024, generating $843.88 million and 14.91% of total box office revenue through August 2025.
• Horror generated roughly $16 million per film in 2024 — about four times the drama average of $4 million and 33 times the documentary average.
• Indie economics are the extreme case: Terrifier 3 turned a $2 million budget into $51.6 million domestic, a 43.5x return, while Longlegs turned $10 million into $74.4 million.
• 2025 produced three $100 million-plus domestic horror titles — Sinners, Weapons and Final Destination Bloodlines — with Sinners delivering the largest horror domestic gross since It in 2017.
• 2026 sustained the run: Backrooms sits at $394.1 million worldwide on the all-time horror list, and studios now treat horror as a year-round release category rather than a seasonal one.

Through August 2025, horror films accounted for 14.91% of total box office revenue, generating $843.88 million, and the genre’s share of domestic ticket sales rose from 9.8% in 2024 to 12.1% in 2025, according to industry data compilations. In 2023 horror accounted for more than 10% of box office revenue, having doubled its share in a decade.

The efficiency figures are more striking than the share figures. Horror ranked fifth by gross in 2024 at $847 million but generated $16.0 million per film — four times the drama average and 33 times the documentary average — and produced 9.84% of domestic box office from just 7.8% of total releases, per the Screamwire Horror Industry Report.

2. Core Financial Analysis

2.1 The ROI ladder

Gross figures compiled from Wikipedia’s horror film records and the all-time list; budget and multiple data from the Screamwire report.

The distribution is bimodal, and that is the important structural point. Micro-budget indie horror delivers extraordinary multiples on small absolute returns. Franchise horror delivers large absolute returns on modest multiples. The squeezed middle — the $40–70 million genre film with no IP and no breakout hook — is where losses concentrate, which is the same squeeze killing mid-budget production across every other genre.

2.2 The 2025 originals

The most commercially significant development was the performance of original R-rated horror. Weapons became the second original R-rated film of the year to reach $100 million domestically after Sinners, at a time when the wider genre was under pressure, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Weapons reached the $100 million North American mark in its fourteenth day against nine days for Sinners, which opened to $48 million, and narrowly bested Jaws on an unadjusted basis to rank as the top-grossing R-rated horror film domestically — though its worldwide tally sat well behind Jaws globally.

Sinners‘ domestic gross of roughly $279.6 million was the largest for a horror film since It reached $328.8 million in 2017.

2.3 What 2026 looked like

The year front-loaded unusually. January and February accounted for the overwhelming majority of the genre’s Q1 revenue, buoyed by Scream 7, Send Help, Iron Lung and Primate, before March went quiet outside a few smaller titles, per IndieWire. The publication’s key observation: in 2026, studios are still treating horror as a year-round attraction rather than a seasonal afterthought.

By mid-year, horror had become one of the year’s dominant commercial stories, with Obsession — a Focus Features psychological thriller from Curry Barker — leading the genre and A24’s Backrooms adapting an internet creepypasta into a major release, according to trade roundups.

3. Structural Drivers and Competitor Gaps

Performance intensity is a budget line that pays. The commercial argument for immersive, physically demanding performances in genre film is not artistic — it is marketing efficiency. A transformation performance generates earned media, awards-adjacent coverage and word-of-mouth that a $40 million marketing spend would otherwise have to buy. Terrifier 3‘s 43.5x return did not come from advertising; it came from a performance and a reputation that travelled without it.

Horror is countercyclical in a specific way. Its economics do not depend on premium formats, international star recognition or family co-viewing — the three things a contracting theatrical market damages most. That is why horror supply is rising while mid-budget production falls generally.

Franchise universes compound. The Conjuring universe has grossed roughly $2.4 billion worldwide across eight films. Once an established universe exists, each subsequent entry carries lower marketing cost per dollar of gross, which is why studios pursue universe construction over one-off successes even when the one-offs have better multiples.

Streaming is a complement, not a substitute. Shudder set viewership records in 2024, doubling total hours, and horror’s October streaming share reached 15.8%. The genre appears to sustain both theatrical and at-home demand simultaneously, which is not true of most categories.

The gap in most coverage. Analysts consistently report horror’s revenue share without reporting its revenue efficiency. Share is a demand statistic; efficiency is an investment statistic. A genre producing 9.84% of domestic box office from 7.8% of releases is outperforming on a per-slot basis, and that ratio — not the headline share — is what should drive greenlight decisions.

4. Key Implications for Stakeholders

Entertainment investors. The barbell is the actionable structure: micro-budget indie horror for multiple, established franchise horror for absolute return, and nothing in between. The $40–70 million original genre film is the category to avoid.

Film industry observers. Watch whether 2026’s originals replicate 2025’s. The genre’s health currently rests on original R-rated titles performing at franchise levels, which is historically unusual and may not persist.

Distributors. The seasonal assumption is obsolete. January and February carried the majority of Q1 2026 horror revenue, and studios releasing horror year-round are capturing calendar slots that used to be conceded to family and awards product.

Producers. Casting for transformation is a defensible budget allocation in this genre specifically, because the performance itself functions as a marketing asset in a way it does not in most categories.

5. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: How much of the box office is horror?

Horror accounted for 12.1% of US domestic ticket sales in 2025, up from 9.8% in 2024, and 14.91% of total box office revenue through August 2025 on $843.88 million of gross.

Q2: Is indie horror more profitable than studio horror?

On return multiple, yes. Terrifier 3 turned roughly $2 million into $51.6 million domestic — about 43.5x — while franchise titles like The Conjuring: Last Rites deliver far larger absolute grosses at lower multiples.

Q3: What was the highest-grossing horror film of 2025?

Among dedicated horror titles, The Conjuring: Last Rites led at $499.1 million worldwide, followed by Sinners at $370.2 million and Final Destination Bloodlines at $317.8 million.

Q4: Why are studios releasing horror year-round now?

Because the seasonal model left revenue on the table. In 2026, January and February produced the overwhelming majority of Q1 horror revenue, confirming that demand is not confined to autumn.

Key Takeaways

• Chicago drill artist Bloodhound Q50, born Mikquale Cooper, was fatally shot in the early hours of Sunday, September 13, 2026, in the city’s Fuller Park neighborhood. He was 22.
• Police say two vehicles pulled alongside Cooper’s car at a gas station and gunmen opened fire, striking him in the chest and shoulder before fleeing the scene; no arrests have been made.
• The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has formally identified the victim as Mikquale Cooper of Chicago; a manager with AMF Music Group confirmed Cooper performed as Bloodhound Q50.
• Q50 had just released his project Get Back or Die Trying and performed at Rolling Loud Orlando earlier this year.
• His death adds to a painful pattern within Chicago’s drill scene — Q50 was a member of the Bloodhounds collective alongside his cousin, Bloodhound Lil Jeff, who was killed in a separate shooting in 2024.

Chicago’s drill music community is mourning the loss of Mikquale Cooper, the 22-year-old rising artist known to fans as Bloodhound Q50, who was shot and killed early Sunday morning in the city’s Fuller Park neighborhood. The killing has drawn tributes from across the hip-hop world and reignited difficult conversations about violence within the genre’s Chicago roots.

What Happened

According to the Chicago Police Department, Cooper was seated in the driver’s seat of his car at a gas station in the 4200 block of South Wentworth Avenue at approximately 3:58 a.m. on Sunday, September 13, when two vehicles pulled up alongside him. Gunmen from both cars opened fire, striking Cooper in the chest and shoulder. Chicago Fire Department personnel treated him at the scene, where he was pronounced dead. The vehicles involved — described as a black Acura sedan and a silver Honda Accord — fled onto the southbound Dan Ryan Expressway. As of this writing, no arrests have been made, and police have said the investigation remains ongoing.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has officially identified the victim as Mikquale Cooper of Chicago. While Chicago police did not publicly name the victim in their initial statements, a manager with AMF Music Group — the label associated with Cooper — confirmed to multiple outlets that he was the artist known as Bloodhound Q50.

Who Was Bloodhound Q50

Cooper emerged from Chicago’s drill scene as part of the Bloodhounds collective, performing alongside artists including his cousin, Bloodhound Lil Jeff, who was himself killed in a shooting in 2024. Q50 built a following with tracks including “Don’t Blink or Stare” and “Splash Bros 2,” and had recently celebrated his 22nd birthday on August 6 with the release of his project Get Back or Die Trying. He had performed at the Rolling Loud festival in Orlando earlier this year, a milestone that reflected his growing profile beyond Chicago’s local scene.

Following news of his death, Rolling Loud posted condolences online, and members of the broader hip-hop community, including commentator DJ Vlad, shared memories of their interactions with the artist. Cooper’s mother also addressed the public directly in the hours after his death, responding to unkind commentary online with a defense of her son’s memory.

A Painful, Recurring Pattern

Q50’s death has renewed attention on the toll gun violence has taken on Chicago’s drill music community specifically, and on young Black artists and residents more broadly. His cousin and collaborator Bloodhound Lil Jeff was killed in 2024, meaning the Bloodhounds collective has now lost two members to gun violence within roughly two years. Commentators and advocates who work on violence prevention in Chicago have pointed to the case as part of a broader, well-documented cycle in which drill artists — who often narrate the violence of their neighborhoods in their music — become victims of that same violence themselves.

Why This Story Resonates Beyond Chicago

Drill music, which originated in Chicago in the early 2010s before spreading to London, New York, and beyond, has long faced scrutiny over its relationship to real-world violence — both as a chronicle of conditions artists live through and, critics argue, as a potential accelerant of street conflicts. Q50’s death arrives as that debate continues, offering no easy resolution but underscoring the very real human cost behind the genre’s most difficult subject matter. For fans, his passing is a reminder of how quickly a promising career — an artist just months removed from a Rolling Loud stage — can be cut short.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Bloodhound Q50?

Bloodhound Q50, born Mikquale Cooper, was a 22-year-old Chicago drill rapper and member of the Bloodhounds collective, known for tracks like “Don’t Blink or Stare” and his recent project Get Back or Die Trying.

How did Bloodhound Q50 die?

He was fatally shot early Sunday, September 13, 2026, in Chicago’s Fuller Park neighborhood when gunmen in two vehicles pulled alongside his car and opened fire. He was struck in the chest and shoulder and pronounced dead at the scene.

Have there been any arrests in the Bloodhound Q50 shooting?

As of this writing, no arrests have been made. Chicago police have said the investigation is ongoing and have asked anyone with information to come forward.