Shares of Conagra Brands Inc. (NYSE: CAG) stayed red on Wednesday. The stock has gained 13% over the past 12 months. The processed foods company is scheduled to report its second quarter 2023 earnings results on Thursday, January 5. Here’s a look at what to expect:
Sales
Analysts expect Conagra to report sales of $3.3 billion for the second quarter of 2023. This compares to $3.1 billion reported in the same period a year ago. For the first quarter of 2023, Conagra delivered net sales of $2.9 billion, which reflected a year-over-year growth of 9.5%.
Earnings
The Street is projecting earnings of $0.66 per share for Conagra in Q2 2023, which is up from $0.64 reported in the prior-year quarter. In Q1 2023, the company reported adjusted EPS of $0.57, which was up 14% YoY.
Segments and trends
For the first quarter of 2023, Conagra recorded sales growth across all its segments, except for International. Sales in the International segment were negatively impacted by foreign exchange. The company’s segments benefited from price hikes rolled out to offset the impact of inflation but volumes declined across all divisions mainly due to the elasticity impact from the pricing actions.
Conagra has benefited from the trend of consumers eating more homemade meals, which started during the pandemic and has been continuing in the inflationary environment. The preference for quick and easy-to-prepare meals has driven demand for the company’s products within the frozen and staples categories. In Q1, Conagra saw double-digit growth in frozen single-serve meals as well as single-serve dinners/entrees within staples.
Conagra expects supply chain headwinds to continue through the second quarter of 2023 as the operating environment remains challenging. It also expects volumes to be impacted by additional price hikes rolled out earlier in Q2 to offset inflation. The company expects gross inflation to continue but moderate through the rest of FY2023.
Click here to read the full transcript of Conagra Brands’ Q1 2023 earnings conference call