Shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW) have been down 1% on Tuesday. The inventory has dropped 18% year-to-date. The frozen potato merchandise maker is scheduled to report its earnings outcomes for the primary quarter of 2026 on Tuesday, September 30, earlier than market open. Right here’s a have a look at what to anticipate from the earnings report:
Income
Analysts are projecting income of $1.62 billion for Lamb Weston within the first quarter of 2026, which signifies a decline of over 2% from the identical interval a 12 months in the past. Within the fourth quarter of 2025, web gross sales elevated 4% year-over-year to $1.67 billion.
Earnings
The consensus goal for earnings per share in Q1 2026 is $0.53, which suggests a 27% drop from the prior-year quarter. In This fall 2025, adjusted EPS rose 12% YoY to $0.87.
Factors to notice
Lamb Weston is seeing robust world demand for French fries. It additionally sees alternatives for innovation with development in meals supply, enlargement of QSR codecs, and the rising utilization of air fryers in at-home cooking. LW expects its class to proceed to see robust demand in fiscal 12 months 2026, with prospects prioritizing French fries as a menu and an at-home merchandise.
Lamb Weston’s enterprise gained momentum within the second half of fiscal 12 months 2025 helped by buyer wins and retention. In This fall, the corporate noticed quantity development helped by contract wins throughout all its channels and geographies. Nevertheless softness in world restaurant visitors traits continued to be a headwind.
In This fall, restaurant visitors declined within the low-single-digits within the US and UK, that are LW’s greatest markets. QSR, or quick-service eating places, visitors was down 1% within the US, whereas visitors at QSR chains specializing in hamburgers was down 2%. Restaurant visitors was down 3% within the UK, and comparatively flat in different key worldwide markets in the course of the fourth quarter.
The corporate doesn’t anticipate to see an enchancment in world restaurant visitors traits in FY2026 in comparison with FY2025 ranges, but it surely anticipates buyer momentum that began within the latter half of FY2025 to proceed. LW expects the carryover pricing actions taken final 12 months to have a damaging influence on gross sales within the first half of FY2026. This can be mirrored within the Q1 outcomes.
Lamb Weston is anticipated to profit from the actions it’s taking underneath its Focus to Win technique. These embrace focusing investments on precedence world markets and segments, strengthening buyer partnerships, lowering prices and specializing in innovation.
