Vending

Hershey surpasses Q3 2023 sales, earnings expectations

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October 26, 2023

Hershey Co. boosted its Q3 2023 results over the prior year period driven primarily by price realization, according to a press release.

Highlights include:

• Consolidated net sales increased 11.1% from $2.73 billion in Q3 2022 to $3.03 billion in the quarter ending Oct. 1, 2023. Organic, constant currency net sales increased 10.7%, driven primarily by price realization.
• Net income rose from $399.5 million to $518.6 million in the comparative quarters.
• Net income per common share rose from $2.00 to $2.60 on a basic basis and from $1.94 to $2.52 on a diluted basis.
• Adjusted EPS rose 19.8% to $2.60.
• North America confectionery sales rose 9.9% from $2.23 billion to $2.5 billion. Organic, constant currency net sales increased 10.1% as double-digit price realization more than offset volume declines related to price elasticity.
• North America salty snack sales rose 25.5% from $275 million to $345.2 million driven by volume and price realization.
• International segment sales increased 4.4% from $217.6 million to $227.2 million.

Shares traded today at $188.91 against a 52-week range of $186.63 to $276.88.

The $3.03 billion in quarterly revenue beat analyst expectations by $80 million while the non-GAAP EPS of $2.80 beat expctations by 15 cents, according to Seeking Alpha.

"We remain on track to deliver our full-year sales and earnings commitments after delivering strong third-quarter seasonal sell-in and successfully implementing our new Salty Snacks ERP system in October," Michele Buck, president and CEO, said in the press release.