NEW YORK, July 1, 2026, 11:49 EDT
- General Mills stock gained 6.8% to $37.17 in late-morning trading, ahead of other staples names and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund.
- General Mills posted adjusted EPS of 95 cents for the fiscal fourth quarter, beating the 80-cent estimate from LSEG that Reuters reported. Organic sales didn’t move.
- General Mills’ bridge shows timing of trade expense boosted adjusted operating profit growth by 7 points, and lifted North America Retail operating profit growth by 9 points.
- General Mills is guiding for fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS of $3.00 to $3.20, which is down from the $3.55 expected for fiscal 2026. The forecast comes despite plans to cut at least $750 million in costs.
General Mills, Inc. NYSE:GIS jumped Wednesday as the company topped profit estimates for the quarter. But investors latched onto more than the 95-cent per share figure. The real action was in factors that likely won’t show up again soon: a shift in trade expenses and an added week in the period drove much of the beat.
The stock rose 6.8% to $37.17 at 11:34 a.m. EDT. That move topped Kraft Heinz Co. NASDAQ:KHC, The Campbell’s Co. NASDAQ:CPB, Conagra Brands Inc. NYSE:CAG, PepsiCo Inc. NASDAQ:PEP and Mondelez International Inc. NASDAQ:MDLZ. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLP) slipped 0.2%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) was up 0.3%.
| Security | Latest price | Day move | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Mills NYSE:GIS | $37.17 | +6.8% | Strong quarter, cut expenses |
| Kraft Heinz NASDAQ:KHC | $24.57 | +4.0% | Followed other food stocks up |
| Campbell’s NASDAQ:CPB | $23.38 | +5.0% | Staples moved higher |
| Conagra NYSE:CAG | $14.03 | +4.2% | Cheaper food shares bid up |
| PepsiCo NASDAQ:PEP | $139.59 | +3.1% | Investors rotated into defensive |
| Mondelez NASDAQ:MDLZ | $59.09 | +2.2% | Trailed move in General Mills |
| XLP (NYSEARCA:XLP) | $82.94 | -0.2% | Consumer staples ETF slipped |
| SPY (NYSEARCA:SPY) | $748.82 | +0.3% | Benchmark finished higher |
General Mills’ fourth quarter numbers looked solid at first glance. Net sales inched up 1% to $4.6 billion, with organic sales stuck at the prior year. Adjusted operating profit climbed 13% in constant currency. Adjusted EPS jumped 27% in constant currency. Analysts polled by LSEG, as reported by Reuters, were calling for 80 cents per share on $4.60 billion in sales.
The bridge was less clear this time. Fiscal 2026 included a 53rd week, which pushed fourth-quarter reported sales up by 7 points. Divestitures and acquisitions together shaved off 7 points. Organic volume dropped 2 points, while organic price and mix gave back 2 points. Organic sales overall stayed flat.
| Fiscal Q4 sales bridge | Organic volume | Organic price/mix | Organic sales | Reported sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America Retail | -2 pts | +2 pts | Flat | -4% |
| North America Pet | -6 pts | +3 pts | -3% | +4% |
| North America Foodservice | -2 pts | +2 pts | Flat | -1% |
| International | +1 pt | +2 pts | +3% | +16% |
| Total General Mills | -2 pts | +2 pts | Flat | +1% |
The stock move is in focus because investors are making a stabilization bet after last year’s slump, but the company still needs to show it can lift volumes without a boost from price, inventory moves or timing. North America Retail, its biggest segment, saw reported sales drop 4% to $2.5 billion. Organic sales didn’t move, as a 2-point lift from trade expense timing and shifts in retailer inventories offset any weakness.
General Mills is seeing the timing effect in profit too. The company reported a 13% gain in adjusted operating profit in constant currency, but 7 points of that came from trade expense timing. North America Retail operating profit rose 7%, though timing accounted for 9 points. That means retail profit was driven more by timing than by real demand.
General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening said the company’s “price investment work” is done, and that it plans to focus on innovation and renovation in fiscal 2027. Harmening also told analysts General Mills is “targeting $3 billion in cumulative cost savings by fiscal 2030,” aiming for $750 million of that in 2027. General Mills
General Mills said its savings plan is significant, not a minor step. The company expects about $2 billion out of $3 billion in targeted savings to come from its Holistic Margin Management productivity program, working out to around 4% of annual cost of goods sold. The rest is expected to flow from global transformation and other cost-cutting, like supply chain changes and business-process streamlining.
General Mills is still looking at lower profit in fiscal 2027. The company is projecting organic net sales between a drop of 1.5% and a gain of 0.5%. Adjusted operating profit is expected to fall 13% to 8% in constant currency, with adjusted EPS seen at $3.00 to $3.20. That’s below the fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $3.55.
General Mills said it sees roughly 9 points of operating-profit headwinds and 11 points of EPS headwinds for fiscal 2027 from lapping the 53rd week, incentive normalization and divestitures. The company is projecting free cash flow conversion at about 95% of adjusted after-tax earnings.
General Mills’ latest update on the balance sheet was more cautious. CFO Kofi Bruce said the company is focusing short-term cash on cutting debt now, with share buybacks mainly there to offset dilution. In fiscal 2026, General Mills paid out $1.3 billion in dividends and bought back $500 million of its own stock. That buyback number is down from $1.2 billion last year.
General Mills shares tumbled earlier this year. Reuters said the stock lost around 25% in 2024 after February’s forecast cut. Jefferies called the latest outlook “better than feared,” according to the report. eToro’s Lale Akoner told Reuters the company has a “clearer path” now than a few quarters back. Reuters
