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Hormel Foods (HRL) Q1 Earnings Coming Up: Factors to Note

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Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL - Free Report) is likely to register a top-and-bottom-line decline when it reports first-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings on Feb 29. The consensus mark for earnings has remained unchanged in the past 30 days at 34 cents per share, which indicates a decrease of 15% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. HRL has a trailing four-quarter negative earnings surprise of 4.4%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $2.94 billion, indicating a drop of 1.1% from the $2.97 billion reported in the prior-year quarter.

Factors to Consider

Hormel Foods has been operating in a dynamic operating landscape, including sluggish consumer demand, inflationary hurdles and challenges in the company’s turkey business. These may have impacted results in the quarter under review.

Hormel Foods Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Hormel Foods Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Hormel Foods Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hormel Foods Corporation Quote

The company has been battling weakness in the International segment for a while. Fiscal 2023 remained particularly challenging for this business due to challenges in China, soft commodity markets and higher-than-anticipated elasticities on the branded export business. On its last earnings call, management highlighted that it expects drab International segment results in the first quarter. The consensus mark for the segment’s sales stands at $172 million for the quarter under review.

Hormel Foods has been witnessing rising advertising expenses for a while. Management expects advertising investments to remain escalated during fiscal 2024 as it continues to support leading brands in the marketplace. This is likely to have put pressure on the company’s profits in the quarter under review.

Nonetheless, HRL’s steadfast commitment to strategic priorities, transformational efforts, modernization initiatives, capacity expansion and innovative pipeline has been working well. Apart from this, a focus on initiatives like One Supply Chain, Project Orion and Digital Experience Group to accelerate growth bodes well.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Hormel Foods this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is not the case here.

Hormel Foods has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, and it carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Here are three companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the correct combination to beat on earnings this time:

The Gap, Inc. (GPS - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +24.44% and sports a Zacks Rank of 1. GPS is likely to register a bottom-line increase when it reports fourth-quarter fiscal 2023 numbers. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly earnings per share of 19 cents suggests a rise of 125.3% from the year-ago fiscal quarter’s reported number. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Gap’s top line is expected to decrease from the prior-year fiscal quarter’s reported number. The consensus estimate for quarterly revenues is pegged at $4.21 billion, suggesting a decline of 0.7% from the prior-year fiscal quarter’s reported figure. GPS has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 137.9%, on average.

Inter Parfums (IPAR - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +7.14% and a Zacks Rank of 2. The company is likely to register a top-line increase when it reports fourth-quarter 2023 numbers. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Inter Parfums’ quarterly revenues is pegged at $329 million, indicating a rise of 5.9% from the figure reported in the prior-year quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Inter Parfums’ quarterly earnings of 35 cents per share suggests a decrease of 50.7% from the year-ago quarter’s levels. IPAR has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 45.7%, on average.

Costco Wholesale (COST - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.58% and a Zacks Rank of 2. COST is likely to register top-and-bottom-line growth when it reports second-quarter fiscal 2024 numbers. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Costco’s quarterly revenues is pegged at $59.2 billion, suggesting an increase of 7.1% from that reported in the prior-year quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Costco’s earnings for the second quarter has advanced by a penny in the past seven days to $3.60 per share, indicating a rise of 9.1% from the year-ago period reported figure. COST delivered an earnings beat of 2.6%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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