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Key Takeaways
- Conagra Brands shares slid Thursday after the food giant lowered its profit outlook.
- CEO Sean Connolly cited a “challenging consumer environment,” and said inflation will likely negatively affect Conagra’s second-half results.
- The company’s second-quarter sales and adjusted earnings topped analysts’ estimates.
Conagra Brands (CAG) shares slid Thursday after the food giant lowered its profit outlook, citing a “challenging consumer environment.”
CEO Sean Connolly said higher-than-expected inflation and “unfavorable” foreign exchange rates would negatively affect earnings in the second half of its fiscal year.
To account for those headwinds, Conagra updated its full-year outlook, expecting organic net sales to come in near the midpoint of its previous range of flat to down 1.5% and lowering its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) range to $2.45 to $2.50, down from $2.60 to $2.65 previously.
Conagra has noted the challenging environment and hesitant consumers in several of its recent quarters, and also has looked to cut costs to compensate.
The owner of dozens of brands like Duncan Hines, Chef Boyardee, Slim Jim, and Reddi-wip reported second-quarter revenue of $3.2 billion, down about 0.4% year-over-year but above the $3.15 billion analysts had expected, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Conagra’s net income fell short, as it also decreased from last year to $284.5 million, while analysts had expected growth to $317.7 million.
After the food maker adjusted for one-time costs like restructuring charges, Conagra reported $337 million in adjusted net income, better than the $323.1 million that analysts had projected.
Conagra shares were down close to 2% Thursday afternoon, and have lost about 6% so far this year.
