Companies and Brands

What to Expect When Campbell Soup Reports Wednesday Morning

Chris Lange

Published: December 3, 2019 1:25 pm

Last Updated: January 30, 2020 12:36 pm

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is scheduled to release its most recent quarterly results before the markets open on Friday. The consensus estimates are calling for $0.71 in earnings per share (EPS) and $2.19 billion in revenue. The fiscal first quarter of last year reportedly had $0.79 in EPS and $2.69 billion in revenue.

In its fiscal fourth quarter, revenues dropped about 9% year over year to $2.02 billion. In terms of its segments, Campbell Soup reported that Meals & Beverages organic net sales increased 1% year over year to $813 million, while Snacks organic net sales increased 4% to $967 million.

The strong fourth-quarter results culminated a year of steady, positive performance for Campbell. The firm delivered consistent results and met or exceeded expectations for four consecutive quarters.

According to management, the company made significant progress against its 2019 strategic initiatives, namely:

• Improving in-market performance
• Overdelivering cost savings programs
• Strengthening relationships with key retailers
• Focusing the portfolio on two core businesses in North America
• Completing the divestiture of Campbell Fresh and announcing the divestiture of Campbell International.

Excluding Thursday’s move, Campbell Soup shares had outperformed the broad markets, with its stock up about 43% year to date. In the past 52 weeks, the stock was only up about 19%.

A few analysts weighed in on Campbell Soup ahead of results:

• RBC has an Outperform rating with a $55 price target.
• Citigroup has a Buy rating with a $50 target price.
• Piper Jaffray rates it as Neutral with a $45 price target.
• JPMorgan has a $48 price target.
• Merrill Lynch rates it as Underperform with a $40 target.
• Wells Fargo has a Hold rating with a $45 target price.
• Credit Suisse has an Underperform rating and a $36 price target.

Shares of Campbell Soup traded at $47.26 on Tuesda, in a 52-week range of $32.03 to $48.39. The consensus price target is $42.77.