Hormel Foods (HRL) Beats Q4 Earnings Estimates

Core Viewpoint - Hormel Foods reported quarterly earnings of $0.32 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.30 per share, but down from $0.42 per share a year ago [1][2] Financial Performance - The earnings surprise for the quarter was +6.67%, while the previous quarter saw a surprise of -14.63% with actual earnings of $0.35 compared to an expected $0.41 [2] - Hormel's revenues for the quarter were $3.19 billion, slightly missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.55%, and up from $3.14 billion year-over-year [3] - Over the last four quarters, Hormel has surpassed consensus EPS estimates only once and has topped revenue estimates twice [2][3] Stock Performance - Hormel shares have declined approximately 25.8% since the beginning of the year, contrasting with the S&P 500's gain of 16.5% [4] - The stock currently holds a Zacks Rank 4 (Sell), indicating expectations of underperformance in the near future [7] Future Outlook - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $0.31 on revenues of $3.08 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $1.40 on revenues of $12.43 billion [8] - The outlook for the Food - Meat Products industry, where Hormel operates, is currently in the bottom 34% of Zacks industries, which may negatively impact stock performance [9]