General Mills Q3 sales fall on brand investments, yogurt divestitures, reaffirms 2026 outlook

General Mills

18/03/2026 11:10

Overview

U.S. packaged foods maker's fiscal Q3 sales declined 8% but slightly beat analyst expectations

Adjusted EPS for fiscal Q3 fell 37% yr/yr in constant currency and missed analyst estimates

Company attributed declines to brand investments, yogurt divestitures, and unfavorable trade expense timing

Outlook

Company reaffirms full-year fiscal 2026 outlook

General Mills sees FY26 organic net sales down 1.5% to 2%

Company expects FY26 adj operating profit and adj diluted EPS down 16% to 20% in constant currency

General Mills expects sequential improvement in Q4 sales and earnings, driven by 53rd week and favorable timing

Result Drivers

BRAND INVESTMENTS - Co said increased investments to improve brand remarkability weighed on Q3 sales and earnings

YOGURT DIVESTITURES - Divestiture of North American yogurt business reduced sales and operating profit, especially in North America Retail and Foodservice segments

HIGHER INPUT COSTS - Gross margin declined due to higher input costs, partially offset by price/mix benefits

Company press release: ID:nBw18F50Ga

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q3 Sales
Slight Beat*
$4.44 bln
$4.42 bln (15 Analysts)
Q3 Adjusted EPS
Miss
$0.64
$0.73 (16 Analysts)
Q3 EPS
$0.56
Q3 Gross Margin
30.80%
Q3 Adjusted Gross Margin
30.60%
Q3 Operating profit
$524.60 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 4 "strong buy" or "buy", 13 "hold" and 4 "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 General Mills Inc is $47.00, about 21.3% above its March 17 closing price of $38.74

The stock recently traded at 11 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 13 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.)