Hershey Co. Q4 Profit Decreases, but beats estimates

(RTTNews) - Hershey Co. (HSY) released earnings for fourth quarter that decreased from the same period last year but beat the Street estimates.

The company's bottom line came in at $349.04 million, or $1.70 per share. This compares with $396.30 million, or $1.92 per share, in last year's fourth quarter.

Excluding items, Hershey Co. reported adjusted earnings of $414.67 million or $2.02 per share for the period.

Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.95 per share, according to figures compiled by Thomson Reuters. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the quarter rose 0.4% to $2.66 billion from $2.65 billion last year.

Hershey Co. earnings at a glance (GAAP) :

-Earnings (Q4): $349.04 Mln. vs. $396.30 Mln. last year. -EPS (Q4): $1.70 vs. $1.92 last year. -Analyst Estimates: $1.95 -Revenue (Q4): $2.66 Bln vs. $2.65 Bln last year.