Shares of Conagra Manufacturers, Inc. (NYSE: CAG) rose over 1% on Wednesday. The inventory has dropped 9% over the previous three months. The branded meals firm is slated to report its earnings outcomes for the primary quarter of 2026 on Wednesday, October 1, earlier than market opens. Right here’s a have a look at what to anticipate from the earnings report:
Income
Analysts are projecting income of $2.62 billion for Conagra within the first quarter of 2026, which signifies a lower of over 6% from the identical interval a 12 months in the past. Within the fourth quarter of 2025, web gross sales declined 4.3% year-over-year to $2.8 billion.
Earnings
The consensus estimate for Q1 2026 earnings per share is $0.33, which means a decline of 38% from the prior-year quarter. In This autumn 2025, adjusted EPS decreased 8% YoY to $0.56.
Factors to notice
Conagra has been dealing with a difficult working setting with inflation, provide challenges, and weak client sentiment taking a toll on its enterprise efficiency. Inflation led to increased prices whereas provide chain challenges led to misplaced gross sales in addition to an increase in bills to deal with the problems. Persistent inflation and financial uncertainty led to a shift in customers’ buying behaviors as they sought worth and opted for reasonably priced choices. These components impacted the corporate’s gross sales and volumes within the fourth quarter of 2025.
Conagra anticipates these headwinds to proceed into fiscal 12 months 2026. Persistent inflation coupled with tariffs are anticipated to result in increased prices for the corporate. As well as, inflationary pressures are more likely to result in customers changing into extra value-conscious. These headwinds are more likely to weigh on the highest and backside strains in Q1.
Conagra is engaged on bettering its provide chain resiliency by modernizing its amenities and increasing capability in high-growth classes. Additionally it is specializing in driving progress in classes like frozen, snacks, and baked and fried rooster.
Conagra expects natural gross sales within the first half of the 12 months to be down barely versus the earlier 12 months. It additionally expects its margins, on an adjusted foundation, to enhance sequentially every quarter, with margins within the first quarter anticipated to be the bottom of the 12 months because of the timing of provide chain investments.
