Conagra Brands Inc. CAG, -0.15% shares slipped 1.4% in Thursday premarket trading after the food company reported fiscal second-quarter earnings below Street expectations. Net income totaled $275.5 million, or 57 cents per share, down from $378.9 million, or 77 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of 64 cents missed the FactSet consensus of 68 cents. Sales of $3.059 billion were up from $2.995 billion and ahead of the FactSet consensus of $3.015 billion. Factors impacting sales include the divestitures of the Egg Beaters and Peter Pan peanut butter businesses. Brands in the Conagra portfolio include Hunt’s, Vlasic and Pam cooking spray. “Looking ahead, we expect to continue experiencing cost pressures above original expectations in the second half of fiscal 2022,” said Chief Executive Sean Connolly in a statement. “However, we believe the sustained elevated consumer demand coupled with the mitigating actions we have successfully executed, and will continue executing, put us on track to overcome these near-term challenges, improve margins in the back half of the fiscal year, and deliver on our profit plan.” For fiscal 2022, the company now expects organic net sales growth of about 3%, up from previous guidance for 1% growth. The company maintained its adjusted EPS guidance of $2.50. The FactSet consensus is for sales of $11.24 billion, implying growth of 0.5%, and EPS of $2.46. Conagra stock has fallen 4.4% over the past year while the S&P 500 index SPX, -1.94% has gained 25.4%.
