General Mills (GIS) all set to report Q3 earnings. Here’s what to expect

General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) has been taking strategic measures to beat market challenges, with a focus on cutting costs and addressing changes in consumer behavior. The company expects investments aimed at enhancing customer value to position it for sustainable growth in 2026 and beyond, though they could affect profitability in the short term.

Stock Dips

After experiencing a series of ups and downs last year, the company’s stock had a modest start to 2025. It is yet to recover from the post-pandemic downturn, as the business remains under pressure from competition and inflation. However, considering General Mills’ strong fundamentals and the low stock price, it appears to be an attractive long-term investment. The business is expected to benefit from the ongoing restructuring, with an increased focus on the pet food segment.

The Minneapolis-headquartered consumer foods manufacturer has an impressive track record of consistently beating analysts’ earnings estimates, including in the most recent quarter. In Q2, sales topped expectations for the second time in a row. For the third quarter, analysts following General Mills forecast adjusted earnings of $0.97 per share, compared to $1.17 per share a year earlier. The consensus sales forecast for Q3 is $4.98 billion, which represents a 2.4% decline. The report is slated for release on Wednesday, March 19, at 7:00 am ET.

Q2 Outcome

In the second quarter, net sales increased 2% year-over-year to $5.2 billion, with organic sales growing 1%. Weakness in the North America Retail division was more than offset by growth in the other operating segments. Excluding special items, earnings increased 12% year-over-year to $1.40 per share. On a reported basis, net income attributable to the company was $796 million, up 34% compared to last year. Earnings per share climbed 39% year-over-year to $1.42.

“…our top priority for this year is to accelerate our organic sales growth and specifically our volume growth, and we do that by leveraging a remarkable experience framework to improve our market share. And, through the first half of the year, we’ve executed that plan, and we’re seeing good results with broad-based improvements in our volume and our share trends. And we’ve done that by stepping up our investment in the business above our original plan in response to a more prolonged, and I would say, significant value-seeking behaviors on the part of consumers,” General Mills CEO Jeffrey Harmening said at the Q2 earnings call.

Outlook

General Mills is banking on the strength of the brand and its supply chain efficiency to drive growth, while also attracting customers with competitive prices and new products. After reporting Q2 results, the management said it continues to expect organic sales change to be between flat and up 1% in fiscal 2025. More recently, it downwardly revised its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance range to between down 4% and down 2%, in constant currency. That compares to the previous outlook range of down 3% to down 1%.

The revision reflects the impact of increased interest expense related to the acquisition of North American Whitebridge Pet Brands. Under its portfolio restructuring initiative, the company has also divested the Canadian yogurt business and recently announced an agreement to sell the North American yogurt business.

On Tuesday, the stock slid soon after opening and was trading down 3.5% in the afternoon. It has lost more than 14% in the past six months.