Pins matching tag:Cocoa

Hershey closed 2024 with fourth-quarter net sales up 8.7% to $2.89 billion and adjusted EPS up 33% to $2.69, then warned that surging cocoa prices would cut 2025 adjusted earnings per share by about a third on sales growth of at least 2%.

Hershey's first-quarter net sales fell 13.8% to $2.81 billion and adjusted EPS 32% to $2.09 as it lapped last year's pre-ERP stock build and a later Easter; it held its 2025 outlook and put Q2 tariff costs at $15-20 million.

Hershey told retailers it would raise prices on many chocolate products by a low double-digit percentage, blaming the unprecedented cost of cocoa rather than tariffs. Halloween packs were spared, and it said 75% of its candy would still cost under $4.

Hershey's second-quarter net sales jumped 26% to $2.61 billion on Easter timing and early Halloween shipments, but it cut its 2025 earnings outlook to a 36-38% adjusted EPS decline after putting full-year tariff costs at $170-180 million.

An executive order took cocoa and other farm goods out of President Trump's reciprocal tariffs, backdated to November 13. Hershey, which had asked the White House for the exemption, said cocoa is not grown in the US and supports more than 10,000 American jobs.

Hershey lifted its quarterly dividend to $1.452 a share from $1.370, its first increase after holding the payout flat through the cocoa and tariff squeeze of 2025, alongside a forecast of a 30-35% earnings rebound in 2026.

Hershey's first-quarter net sales rose 10.6% to $3.10 billion on about 10 points of price and the LesserEvil deal, and adjusted EPS rose 12% to $2.35 as reported profit nearly doubled; it reaffirmed its 2026 outlook.

Hershey's second-quarter adjusted EPS rose 57% to $1.90 and net sales 6.6% to $2.79 billion as 12 points of price outweighed an 8-point volume drop, and it narrowed its 2026 outlook upward to 32.5-35% adjusted EPS growth.

Hershey's third-quarter 2026 results, the first test of its narrowed outlook for 4.5-5% sales growth and a 32.5-35% rebound in adjusted earnings per share as cocoa costs ease.