Conagra Brands shares fall as earnings miss, outlook disappoints
The Chicago-based packaged food giant reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.56 for the fourth quarter, falling short of the $0.59 analyst consensus. Revenue declined 4.3% to $2.78 billion, below the $2.85 billion analysts had expected. Organic net sales decreased 3.5% in the quarter, driven by a 1% negative impact from price/mix and a 2.5% decrease in volume.
For fiscal 2026, Conagra provided disappointing guidance, projecting adjusted EPS of $1.70 to $1.85, significantly below the analyst consensus of $2.19. The company expects organic net sales growth between -1% and 1% compared to fiscal 2025, with adjusted operating margin between approximately 11.0% and 11.5%.
"I'm proud of the Conagra team for their hard work throughout fiscal 2025 as we navigated an environment that proved to be more challenging than we anticipated," said Sean Connolly, president and CEO of Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG). "While the second half was impacted by higher than expected inflation, foreign exchange headwinds, and supply constraints, our long-term value creation strategy remains unchanged."
The company cited continued inflationary pressures as a major headwind for the upcoming fiscal year, expecting core inflation of approximately 4%. Additionally, Conagra anticipates a significant impact from recently announced U.S. tariffs, which could increase cost of goods sold by approximately 3% annually before mitigating actions.
For the full fiscal 2025, Conagra's net sales decreased 3.6% to $11.6 billion, with adjusted EPS declining 13.9% to $2.30. The company generated $1.7 billion in net cash flows from operating activities and reduced its net debt by 4.4% to $8.0 billion.
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Yahoo
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DOGE sprouts in red states, as governors embrace the cost-cutter brand and make it their own
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Yahoo
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Student Loan Update: Here's What SAVE Borrowers Should Do by August 1
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Associated Press
an hour ago
- Associated Press
DOGE sprouts in red states, as governors embrace the cost-cutter brand and make it their own
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The brash and chaotic first days of President Donald Trump 's Department of Government Efficiency, once led by the world's richest man Elon Musk, spawned state-level DOGE mimicry as Republican governors and lawmakers aim to show they are in step with their party's leader. Governors have always made political hay out of slashing waste or taming bureaucracy, but DOGE has, in some ways, raised the stakes for them to show that they are zealously committed to cutting costs. Many drive home the point that they have always been focused on cutting government, even if they're not conducting mass layoffs. 'I like to say we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,' Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in announcing her own task force in January. Critics agree that some of these initiatives are nothing new and suggest they are wasteful, essentially duplicating built-in processes that are normally the domain of legislative committees or independent state auditors. At the same time, some governors are using their DOGE vehicles to take aim at GOP targets of the moment, such as welfare programs or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And some governors who might be eyeing a White House run in 2028 are rebranding their cost-cutting initiatives as DOGE, perhaps eager to claim the mantle of the most DOGE of them all. No chainsaws in the states At least 26 states have initiated DOGE-style efforts of varying kinds, according to the Economic Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C. Most DOGE efforts were carried out through a governor's order — including by governors in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma — or by lawmakers introducing legislation or creating a legislative committee. The state initiatives have a markedly different character than Trump's slash-and-burn approach, symbolized by Musk's chainsaw-brandishing appearance at a Conservative Political Action Committee appearance in February. 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Kevin Stitt — who says in a blurb on the Oklahoma DOGE website that 'I've been DOGE-ing in Oklahoma since before it was cool' — made a DOGE splash with the first report by his Division of Government Efficiency by declaring that the state would refuse some $157 million in federal public health grants. The biggest chunk of that was $132 million intended to support epidemiology and laboratory capacity to control infectious disease outbreaks. The Stitt administration said that funding — about one-third of the total over an eight-year period — exceeded the amount needed. The left-leaning Oklahoma Policy Institute questioned the wisdom of that, pointing to rising numbers of measles and whooping cough cases and the rocky transition under Stitt of the state's public health lab from Oklahoma City to Stillwater. Oklahoma Democrats issued rebukes, citing Oklahoma's lousy public health rankings. 'This isn't leadership,' state Sen. Carri Hicks said. 'It's negligence.' Stitt's Oklahoma DOGE has otherwise recommended changes in federal law to save money, opened up the suggestion box to state employees and members of the general public and posted a spreadsheet online with cost savings initiatives in his administration. Those include things as mundane as agencies going paperless, refinancing bonds, buying automated lawn mowers for the Capitol grounds or eliminating a fax machine line in the State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order in February creating a task force of DOGE teams in each state agency. In the order, DeSantis recited 10 points on what he described as his and Florida's 'history of prudent fiscal management' even before DOGE. 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Achieving that savings — largely by standardizing information technology and purchasing — would sometimes require up-front spending and take years to realize savings. ___ Follow Marc Levy on X at:
