Why Kraft Heinz Stock Went a Bit Sour Today
Is Kraft Heinz losing its flavor? Kraft Heinz stock is under pressure and there's no easy way back.
Shares of food producer Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC) posted a significant price drop on Wednesday morning. A mixed fourth-quarter report left a bad taste in investors' mouths, and the stock opened 7.9% lower. It recovered to a 3.5% price drop as of 11 a.m. ET, but Kraft Heinz's stock is still exploring multiyear lows today.
The company behind popular food brands such as Oscar Mayer, Kool-Aid, and Velveeta saw fourth-quarter sales fall 5% year over year to $6.58 billion. Adjusted earnings rose by 8% to $0.84 per diluted share. The average Wall Street analyst was looking for earnings near $0.78 per share on revenues in the neighborhood of $6.7 billion. Kraft Heinz beat the bottom-line targets but fell short of revenue expectations.
Looking ahead, management set up disappointing guidance for fiscal year 2025. The company expects to generate full-year earnings of approximately $2.68 per share, 12% below last year's result and short of the consensus forecast at $3.04. This weak bottom-line forecast erased the price support Kraft Heinz might have enjoyed from the robust fourth-quarter showing.
