Refile: Flowers Foods Q1 sales rise as Simple Mills acquisition offsets volume declines

Flowers Foods

21/05/2026 21:21

Corrects to remove extraneous word from headline

Overview

U.S. packaged bakery producer's Q1 sales rose 1.1%, as the Simple Mills acquisition, pricing/mix offset volume declines

Adjusted EPS for Q1 beat analyst expectations

Company cites volume declines and higher interest expense as weighing on net income

Outlook

Flowers Foods expects 2026 net sales of $5.163 bln to $5.267 bln, down -1.8% to up 0.2%

Company sees 2026 adjusted EBITDA between $465 mln and $495 mln

Flowers Foods expects 2026 adjusted diluted EPS of $0.80 to $0.90

Result Drivers

NET SALES - The increase of pricing/mix and the Simple Mills acquisition rose net sales

HIGHER INTEREST EXPENSE - Net income fell due to higher interest expense from debt issued to fund the Simple Mills acquisition

INFLATIONARY PRESSURE - Co said inflationary pressure on consumer spending contributed to lower sales in non-branded categories

Company press release: ID:nPnrmhrFa

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 Sales
Slight Miss*
$1.57 bln
$1.58 bln (5 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$0.29
$0.26 (5 Analysts)
Q1 EPS
$0.20
Q1 Adjusted Net Income
$60.90 mln
Q1 Net Income
$42.10 mln
Q1 Adjusted EBITDA
$159 mln


*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.

Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is 1 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the food processing peer group is "buy."

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Flowers Foods Inc is $8.00, about 10.5% above its May 20 closing price of $7.24

The stock recently traded at 9 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 12 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)