Latest news with #Applegate
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Hormel Foods says consumers are ‘strained' as they trade down or hunt for value, but maintains outlook for the year
maintained its full-year 2025 net sales guidance at $12.2 billion despite economic uncertainty and tariff-related pressures, noting that consumers are feeling strained and adjusting their spending habits for maximum value. While tariffs have not significantly impacted Hormel yet, the company narrowed its growth and earnings forecasts slightly and emphasized strength in value-oriented and premium product lines like Applegate. In its second earnings call of the year, Hormel Foods held its guidance steady despite a shifting macroeconomic outlook. Hormel, known for kitchen staples such as Applegate, Skippy, and SPAM, narrowed its expectations during its earnings call Thursday but maintained its top-line expectation of $12.2 billion in net sales for the FY 2025. The extensive offerings and categories Hormel operates in enables the Austin, Minn.-based brand unique insight into the spending habits and sentiments of consumers. To this effect, executives noted shoppers are 'strained' amid a 'choppy environment.' Much of this uncertainty stems back to President Donald Trump's tariff regime, which has upended everything from Wall Street's outlook to inflation expectations. With consumers potentially bracing for higher prices as a result of the foreign policy, Hormel said some are trading down on their shops while others are focusing on maximum value. Consumers and analysts alike have whiplash from the news out of Washington D.C.: In the past few weeks alone, Trump's team has reduced sky-high tariffs on China for 90-days, then accused Beijing of breaking the agreement, threatening 50% tariffs on the EU which were then delayed, and successfully appealed a court decision which banned the administration from introducing any of its 'Liberation Day' measures. 'I would describe the consumer sentiment as not great, meaning they're feeling the cumulative effects of inflation and at the same time feeling uncertainty in the macro environment,' John Ghingo, executive vice president of Hormel's retail division, told analysts on the call. 'I would describe that as a strained consumer sentiment. And what's interesting is you do see some trading down from consumers to lower prices.' He continued: 'Some of our categories actually play very well for affordability, but if we pull back even from that and say, 'where is the growth coming from?' … we can see some very different pockets of strong growth because consumers are still looking for solutions. 'They're still looking for what they would classify… as value. And so within our own portfolio, we see strong growth still in the premium … with our Applegate brand.' Ghingo added that because consumers are stretched, they want to get maximum value and flexibility out of products—which is where protein products from Applegate and turkey specialists Jennie-O are flourishing. Of course, businesses aren't only impacted by tariffs because of the effect on customers, but also on their supply chain and relative costs. Most businesses say they are going to pass costs onto consumers, as the Federal Reserve noted in its May meeting: 'Many participants remarked that reports from their business contacts or surveys indicated that firms generally were planning to either partially or fully pass on tariff-related cost increases to consumers. 'Several participants noted that firms not directly subject to tariffs might take the opportunity to increase their prices if other prices rise.' Some brands, like Walmart, have already warned they may have to increase their prices—earning the ire of the Oval Office. Hormel, a Fortune 500 company, noted its portfolio has not been impacted by tariffs 'to date' (though let's not forget, the sharpest end of tariff threats are yet to come to fruition), with Jacinth Smiley, executive vice president and CFO at Hormel adding: 'Although our business has not been materially impacted by the tariff landscape to date, based on what we know today, we have assumed a range of $0.01 to $0.02 of tariff impacts in the back half of the year in our outlook.' With that in mind, the brand narrowed its organic net sales growth outlook to a range of 2% to 3% and likewise narrowed its adjusted diluted net earnings per share expectations to $1.58 to $1.68. That being said, Smiley added: 'We remain confident in our outlook for bottom-line growth for each segment in the second half of the year and remain committed to delivering long-term value through strategic execution.' Overall, Hormel reported Q2 2025 net sales of $2.9 billion with organic net sales up 1%. In the retail category, net sales were flat with volumes down 7% year-over-year, with segment profits climbing 4%. In the foodservice category, organic volumes were down 1%, and the segment profit was down 4%, though volumes increased 4%. In the international segment, volumes were up 9%, net sales up 7%, though segment profit fell 21%. Hormel's share price is up 3.8% over the past five days, down approximately 3% for the year to date. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
HRL Q1 Earnings Call: Revenue Misses, Guidance Lowered Amid Supply Chain and Consumer Headwinds
Packaged foods company Hormel (NYSE:HRL) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales flat year on year at $2.90 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.35 per share was in line with analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy HRL? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $2.90 billion (flat year on year) Adjusted EPS: $0.35 vs analyst estimates of $0.34 (in line) Adjusted Operating Income: $264.9 million vs analyst estimates of $257.3 million (9.1% margin, 2.9% beat) Management lowered its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance to $1.63 at the midpoint, a 1.2% decrease Operating Margin: 8.6%, in line with the same quarter last year Sales Volumes fell 5.7% year on year (-3.6% in the same quarter last year) Market Capitalization: $16.52 billion Hormel Foods' first quarter performance reflected stable but pressured operating conditions across its portfolio. Management pointed to solid organic growth in core brands such as Applegate and Jennie-O turkey, as well as strong consumption trends in Mexican foods, including Herdez salsa and guacamole. CEO Jim Snee highlighted the company's focus on providing value through quality, innovation, and convenience. Strategic moves—including the launch of new convenience breakfast items and expanded product lines—were cited as drivers of market relevance. However, management acknowledged softness in volumes, impacted by promotional timing, contract manufacturing, and ongoing consumer sensitivity to inflation, which has led to shifts in purchasing behavior. Looking ahead, Hormel Foods' leadership expects a meaningful ramp in performance in the second half of the year, supported by increased advertising behind flagship brands like Planters, new product innovation, and benefits from its Transform and Modernize (T&M) initiative. Management stressed the importance of Turkey and Planters as key growth drivers, while also cautioning about headwinds from tariffs, higher commodity costs, and a strained consumer environment. CFO Jacinth Smiley noted, 'We are reaffirming our expectation for incremental benefits from the T&M initiative,' with anticipated margin improvement and operational efficiencies. Despite narrowing its full-year outlook, the company believes its diversified protein-centric portfolio and ongoing supply chain optimization efforts position it to deliver bottom-line growth. Hormel's management attributed the quarter's performance to continued product innovation, selective brand investment, and operational changes in its supply chain. Key leadership transitions and ongoing efforts to adapt to consumer trends shaped results. Applegate and Convenience Growth: The Applegate brand outperformed the edible category, fueled by new product launches such as lightly-breaded chicken and the Convenience Breakfast platform. Management emphasized that ongoing innovation and product differentiation are reinforcing brand strength and household penetration. Jennie-O Turkey Performance: Jennie-O lean ground turkey continued to show strong consumption gains, benefiting from consumer demand for lean, high-protein foods. Hormel's strategic transformation of this business over recent years has enabled it to capture shifting preferences and maintain category leadership. Mexican Foods Momentum: The company's Mexican foods portfolio, including Herdez salsa and refrigerated guacamole under the Herdez and Wholly brands, delivered double-digit consumption growth. Expansion into new meal solutions, like refrigerated entrees featuring el pastor, reflects a focus on authentic, convenient offerings. Supply Chain Initiatives: Hormel closed one of its three dry sausage facilities in California and opened a new distribution center in the Memphis metro area. These actions are part of its Transform and Modernize initiative to improve efficiency, customer service, and operational excellence. Leadership Changes: The company appointed Dr. Kevin Myers to lead supply chain operations, with a focus on transformation and operational efficiency. Additionally, Scott Aakre's upcoming retirement as Chief Marketing Officer and the appointment of Jeff Baker as his successor were highlighted as part of a broader effort to ensure leadership continuity and brand evolution. Hormel expects second-half growth to be driven by increased marketing investment, execution on key brands, and operational efficiencies despite ongoing macro headwinds. Planters and Turkey as Growth Engines: Management expects Planters' sales to recover fully in the back half, aided by stepped-up advertising, in-store promotions, and product innovation targeting younger consumers. The Turkey portfolio, especially value-added offerings like Jennie-O, is positioned for incremental growth as lean protein demand rises and competitors exit the market. T&M Initiative Savings: The Transform and Modernize initiative is expected to deliver $100 million to $150 million in incremental savings, supporting margin expansion and offsetting commodity inflation. Specific projects include facility consolidation, improved logistical networks, and end-to-end production planning using data analytics. Consumer and Tariff Headwinds: Management acknowledged that consumer sentiment remains strained due to inflation, leading to trading down and increased focus on value. Tariffs and higher pork, beef, and nut input costs are expected to pressure margins, although measured pricing and efficiency gains are intended to partially offset these impacts. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will monitor (1) the pace of Planters' distribution and sales recovery, (2) margin improvement and realized savings from the Transform and Modernize initiative, and (3) continued growth in flagship protein brands like Jennie-O and Applegate. We will also track any material changes in consumer demand, commodity costs, and tariff impacts as additional indicators of execution against strategic goals. Hormel Foods currently trades at a forward P/E ratio of 17.6×. In the wake of earnings, is it a buy or sell? Find out in our full research report (it's free). The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025. While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we're homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver's seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Red Mesa Aims To Rethink Hemp-Derived Cannabinoid Refining Methods
While traditional methods for refining and isolating hemp-derived cannabinoids typically involve a chemical catalyst, a new method has emerged in recent months. Hemp laws are constantly in a state of flux as some state regulators seek to restrict the use of conversion reactions, but this system introduces a novel solution. Utah-based Red Mesa Science & Refining unveiled its botanical refinement system, allowing cannabinoids to retain their natural complexity and integrity. How's this possible? The company's novel method works by extracting and distilling cannabinoids from American-grown hemp and introducing the material to an industrial-scale liquid centrifugal partition chromatography system. This allows them to precisely isolate the target cannabinoid. Red Mesa is a large-scale producer of hemp-derived CBD, CBG, CBN, CBT, and other cannabinoid isolates and distillate. The team operates a 50,000-square-foot facility in St. George, Utah with various homogenization, distillation, crystallization, liquid chromatography, and conversion processes. Crude materials go from extractors to refiners, and finally to wholesale customers, typically connected via third parties. While the company employs traditional hemp refinement methods, Red Mesa's new proprietary manufacturing process isolates rare cannabinoids such as CBN, CBT, and CBL—without chemically catalyzed conversions. 'Unique to Red Mesa is the installation of the world's largest centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) equipment system,' Red Mesa President Jeff Applegate says in a video call, explaining the system they purchased from RotaChrom Technologies. 'It was a leap of faith in future technology to be applied to the refining of cannabinoids. It's a massive undertaking from a technology standpoint to get the system and the methods for processing underway, and to truly utilize all of the cannabinoids that come from the plant.' It's a liquid separation method that doesn't rely on chemical catalysts or solid medium— fundamentally different from flash chromatography or column chromatography methods. 'This technique uses two immiscible liquid phases and a centrifugal force to isolate cannabinoids based on their solubility difference," he says. "It's highly selective, gentle, undelicate compound, and avoids contamination risk associated with those traditional methods of separation. The CPC allows us to refine rare cannabinoids like botanical CBN, CBL, and CBT and get exactly what we want. The perfect fraction is today a reality." He explained that in the hemp business, you have two main cannabinoids: CBD and CBG. But there is additionally a host of minor cannabinoids. Red Mesa processes crude hemp oil, removing unwanted ingredients via the homogenization process before several more steps. Applegate formerly served as Chief Operating Officer of a medical rehabilitation product manufacturer, with extensive experience in sales management, manufacturing, and product development in an FDA-regulated industry. Under his leadership, Red Mesa has become a leader in the cannabinoid space, specializing in CBD, CBG, and CBN isolates, distillates, crystal-resistant distillates, and botanically-derived rare cannabinoids. The company sells raw cannabinoid material to product formulators, contract manufacturers, and white labelers. In regards to where the markets the company's ingredients end up, the hemp nutraceutical and wellness sector is number one. 'There's probably not another state with more nutraceutical and wellness horsepower than Utah," he says. "Hemp is a market that's increasingly looking for more credible producers at scale with the certifications and registrations that Red Mesa holds. And then there's also the vape industry. In the there's a growing appetite for non-psychoactive options outside of nicotine or THC." There's a increasing demand for cannabinoid isolates with greater purity levels. For instance, importing CBD to be sold in Japan is legal, but CBD products must contain less than 10 ppm THC—0.001%—which is the strictest zero tolerance CBD rule yet. In addition, certain athletes must comply with strict anti-doping rules when taking CBD, such as Olympians. The company's CBD isolates, for instance, contain ≥99% CBD purity or greater and THC-free. Every raw ingredient sold by Red Mesa is produced in-house and traceable, with third-party lab COAs verifying cannabinoid potency, under full compliance. State to state, hemp laws are constantly changing, often when it involves typical conversion methods. In Montana for instance, the state's regulatory agency now bans the use of a converted CBN as an input material to make finished CBN good products, and Applegate explained that solutions like theirs may become fundamental to the continuation of many businesses that sell those products, allowing them to circumvent those rules. Hemp in Utah is regulated under both federal and state agencies, primarily the The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF). All cannabinoid products marketed or sold in Utah are required to register with the UDAF. Hemp-derived cannabinoid product sales reached $28 billion in 2022 while legal cannabis products generated $26 billion in sales during that same period, according to Whitney Economics. Red Mesa brings in about 6,000 kilograms of crude feedstock inputs per month, and the company aims for about 12,000 kilograms of feedstock input by the middle of 2026. The company's large-scale B2B business model showcases the true power of the hemp industry, and where cannabinoid refinement methods are headed in the future.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hormel Foods reports in-line Q2 earnings, narrows full-year outlook
-- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings that met analyst expectations, while revenue fell slightly short of estimates. Hormel reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 for the second quarter, in line with analyst estimates. Revenue came in at $2.9 billion, just below the consensus forecast of $2.92 billion. The company saw organic net sales growth of 1% in the quarter. Hormel's Retail segment profit increased 4% despite flat net sales, driven by operational efficiencies. The Foodservice segment posted 4% organic net sales growth, though segment profit declined 6% due to margin pressures. "We achieved solid organic top-line growth and delivered second quarter results in line with our expectations," said Jim Snee, president and CEO of Hormel Foods. "We anticipate strong second half growth led by our range of consumer-focused, protein-centric products." For fiscal year 2025, Hormel narrowed its organic net sales growth outlook to 2-3%, compared to its previous guidance of 1-4% growth. The company now expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.58 to $1.68, tightening the range from its prior outlook of $1.58 to $1.72. Hormel highlighted strength in its Applegate brand, which outpaced category growth, as well as notable retail sales gains for Jennie-O ground turkey products. The company's Mexican foods portfolio also delivered strong year-over-year growth in the quarter. Related articles Hormel Foods reports in-line Q2 earnings, narrows full-year outlook Chip stocks rise as Nvidia eases China demand concerns Trump's 'liberation day' tariffs blocked by US trade court
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
What is multiple sclerosis, the incurable disease Christina Applegate is living with
Actress Christina Applegate, who first made her diagnosis official in 2021, has said living with multiple sclerosis is 'the worst thing I've ever gone through'. The progressive nerve disorder also known as MS could be harder for some people, causing significant disability. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Applegate has in the past shared how she would 'lay in bed screaming' from the pain and that also led her to be hospitalized 30 times. On Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, the actress shared her health update, saying she rarely leaves home now. 'This is the worst thing I've ever had in my life,' she told O'Brien. "It's the worst thing I've ever gone through.' Applegate also described her early symptoms to O'Brien. 'I was losing balance, but the pain was extraordinary. And when I say numb, it's numb, but it hurts.' Multiple sclerosis doesn't have a cure, but its symptoms can be managed. Many known celebrities have been affected by it. Singer Art Alexakis, talk show host Montel Williams, Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, actress Selma Blair, and CNN anchor John King are among people who got MS, short for multiple sclerosis. Selma Blair recently shared a happy update about her health when she told People she's "doing amazingly well" and is "truly relapse-free" from symptoms of multiple sclerosis. She had shared her diagnosis over six years back. "I spent so much of my life so tired from being unwell that I think I just was trying to get through the day," she said. "And now it's like, wait, I realize I don't know what my goals are," Blair said. What is multiple sclerosis? Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune and progressive disease wherein the immune system attacks the protective sheath that covers nerve fibers, known as myelin, as per mayoclinic. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now This interferes with the communication between the brain and the rest of the body. The disease may can cause permanent damage to the nerve fibres. The common symptoms of MS include numbness or tingling, lack of coordination, weakness, difficulty in walking, and vision changes. Symptoms of MS also depend on the person, the location of damage in the nervous system and how bad the damage is to the nerve fibers. Some people may lose the ability to walk on their own or move at all, while others may have long periods between attacks without any new symptoms, called remission. The most common type of MS is relapsing-remitting MS, where individuals go through cycles of new or worsening symptoms (relapses) followed by periods of partial or full recovery (remission), which can last for months or years. Over time, many people with this form may transition to secondary-progressive MS, marked by a steady progression of symptoms, especially mobility issues, with or without occasional remissions. In contrast, primary-progressive MS involves a gradual and continuous worsening of symptoms from the beginning, without distinct relapses or remissions. The severity and progression of MS can vary widely from person to person. How to manage MS While the progressive disorder can't be fully cured, making lifestyle adjustments, undergoing medical treatments, and supportive therapies to help reduce symptoms can help slow disease progression. Staying physically active with low-impact exercises like yoga or swimming can help maintain strength and mobility, while a balanced diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods supports overall health. Medications, including disease-modifying therapies, can reduce the frequency of relapses and manage symptoms like fatigue, pain, or spasticity. Stress management techniques such as mindfulness, adequate sleep, and counseling are also important, as stress can trigger or worsen symptoms. Regular check-ups with a neurologist and a personalized care plan are essential for long-term management. Christina Applegate Opens Up About Health Battle, Painful Effects Of Multiple Sclerosis
