Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.17 EPS

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The basic materials company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.17, RTT News reports. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 27.37% and a return on equity of 44.55%. The business had revenue of $666.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $655.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 53.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Cal-Maine Foods’ conference call:

• Cal?Maine is shifting its portfolio toward higher?margin channels — specialty eggs were 50.5% of shell egg sales in Q3 and specialty + prepared foods were 52.9% of net sales, supporting greater earnings durability.
• Q3 financials weakened sharply as net sales declined 53% to $667M and net income fell 90% to $50.5M (EPS $1.06), with gross profit down 83% driven by lower wholesale shell egg prices.
• Management is investing to scale prepared foods — expecting >30% capacity growth over 18–24 months (Echo Lake adds ~17M lbs scrambled eggs and a ~12M lb pancake line; Crepini adds ~18M lbs) and forecasts margins to recover toward baseline by 2027–2028.
• Balance sheet and shareholder returns remain priorities — cash and short?term investments of $1.152B, virtually debt?free, $24.3M of buybacks in Q3 with ~$350.8M repurchase capacity remaining, plus a variable dividend (~$0.36/share).
• Market backdrop is mixed — HPAI disruption has eased (depopulations down ~70.6% YoY; layer hen flock +2.2%), retail volumes are up ~3% YTD, but improved supply is pressuring wholesale prices; specialty pricing is largely grain? or fixed?based with only ~12% tied to the volatile CA cage?free market.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of CALM traded up $3.95 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $83.10. 828,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,202,724. Cal-Maine Foods has a 52-week low of $71.92 and a 52-week high of $126.40. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.18. The company has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.26.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 696,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $55,399,000 after purchasing an additional 66,465 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 11,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Caitlin John LLC bought a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $195,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 28,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,232,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CALM shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Friday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price target on Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cal-Maine Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

More Cal-Maine Foods News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cal-Maine Foods this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 beat — CALM reported $1.06 EPS vs. consensus $0.89 and revenue of ~$667M vs. est. ~$656M; the upside to estimates and healthy margins likely pushed the stock higher. Cal?Maine beats expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Board addition — Cal?Maine added Dudley D. Wooley to the board, citing risk, strategy and capital?allocation expertise, which can be seen as a governance and long?term stability positive. Board appointment
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying — Assenagon Asset Management increased its stake in CALM in Q4, a sign some investors are adding exposure after the pullback. Institutional stake increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Company filings — Press release, slide deck and conference?call materials are available for investors to review management’s outlook and guidance; use these to assess near?term margin and volume expectations. Earnings press release
• Negative Sentiment: Steep YoY decline — Revenue was down ~53% versus the prior year and last year’s EPS was $10.39, so results reflect a pronounced drop in realized egg prices and demand dynamics that pressure topline and margins. WSJ: Sales sink
• Negative Sentiment: Commodity price risk — Multiple outlets note materially lower egg prices drove the sales decline; if prices remain depressed, future quarters could see continued revenue and profit pressure despite operational strengths. Barron’s: Falling egg prices

About Cal-Maine Foods

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. The company offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, and 4Grain brand names. It sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, independent supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.