Hershey Q4 Beats Market; Sees Weak Earnings, Higher Sales In FY25; Stock Up - Update

(RTTNews) - Hershey Co. (HSY), while reporting higher financial results for the fourth quarter, on Thursday issued fiscal 2025 outlook, expecting weak earnings and higher sales.

In the pre-market activity on the NYSE, Hershey shares were gaining around 3.5 percent to trade at $151.00.

Reported earnings per share is expected to be down in the high-40 percent range.

According to the firm, higher commodity costs, rebased incentive compensation, and a higher economic tax rate are expected to more than offset price realization, productivity and cost savings programs.

The company projects adjusted earnings per share to be down in the mid-30 percent range.

Hershey expects net sales growth of at least 2 percent, driven primarily by net price realization.

Hershey's fourth-quarter profit increased from the same period last year and beat the Street estimates.

The company's bottom line totaled $796.59 million, or $3.92 per share. This compares with $349.04 million, or $1.70 per share, last year.

Adjusted earnings were $546.36 million or $2.69 per share for the period. Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $2.38 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company's revenue for the period rose 8.7 percent to $2.887 billion from $2.657 billion last year. The Street expected revenues of $2.84 billion.

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