Cereal Giant General Mills Stock Drops on Downbeat Outlook

KEY TAKEAWAYS

General Mills (

GIS

) shares are falling in premarket trading Wednesday after the cereal giant issued a downbeat outlook and posted third-quarter sales that undershot forecasts.

The maker of Lucky Charms cereal and Fruit Roll-Ups said its third-quarter sales lagged expectations, “driven by retailer inventory headwinds in North America Retail and North America Pet, a slowdown in U.S. snacking categories, and softer demand in U.S. away-from-home food channels.”

General Mills reported net sales of $4.84 billion, down 5% year-over-year and below the $4.96 billion analysts had expected, per Visible Alpha. Adjusted
earnings per share (EPS)
of $1.00 fell 15% on a constant-currency basis but came in above the $0.95 consensus.

Firm ‘Expects Macroeconomic Uncertainty to Continue to Impact Consumers’

General Mills, which said it “expects macroeconomic uncertainty to continue to impact consumers in the fourth quarter,” also lowered its fiscal 2025 outlook.

It now expects organic net sales to fall between 1.5% and 2%, compared with its previous forecast of flat to up 1%. Adjusted EPS is seen down 7% to 8% in constant currency versus its previous projection for a decline of 2% to 4%. Analysts were expecting sales to decline by about 0.5% and adjusted EPS to rise by roughly 2%.

General Mills shares, which had lost 12% of their value in the past 12 months entering Wednesday, fell about 5% in premarket trading.

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