The Hershey Company (HSY Quick QuoteHSY - Free Report) is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in North America marketing some of the world’s leading brands like Hershey’s, Reese’s and Kisses which enjoy widespread consumer acceptance.

Investors should note that earnings estimate movement for HSY has been stable for the last 60 days. However, HSY has a impressive earnings surprise history. The company has posted positive earnings surprise in all the past four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 5.26%.

Currently, HSY has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), but that could change following Hershey’s earnings report which was just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

HERSHEY CO/THE Price and EPS Surprise

HERSHEY CO/THE Price and EPS Surprise | HERSHEY CO/THE Quote

We have highlighted some of the key stats from this just-revealed announcement below:

Earnings: HSY beat on earnings. Our consensus earnings estimate called for EPS of $1.18/share, and the company reported EPS of $1.29 instead. Investors should note that these figures take out stock option expenses.

Revenues: HSY reported revenues of $2003.5 million. This missed our consensus estimate of $2,016 million.

Key Stats to Note: Organically, excluding the impact of currency and acquisitions, sales rose 2.4%.

Share Price Impact: The company’s share price was up 1.97%  in pre-market trading (at the time of writing).

Check back later for our full write up on this HSY earnings report later!

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