Quick Verdict
Campbell’s reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $0.39, in line with consensus, while net sales of $2.137 billion missed the roughly $2.15 billion expectation. GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.23. CPB shares fell sharply in premarket trading after cautious fiscal 2027 guidance and a 36% dividend reduction.
About The Campbell’s Company
The Campbell’s Company (NASDAQ: CPB) is a Camden, New Jersey-headquartered branded food company founded in 1869. It sells shelf-stable meals, soups, sauces, broths, beverages, crackers, cookies, pretzels, chips, and other snacks primarily across North America. Its principal brands include Campbell’s, Rao’s, Prego, Pace, Swanson, V8, Goldfish, Pepperidge Farm, Snyder’s of Hanover, Cape Cod, and Kettle Brand.
The company generated fiscal 2026 net sales of $9.744 billion through two operating segments: Meals & Beverages and Snacks. The fourth-quarter results underscored a split business performance: Meals & Beverages delivered 3% organic sales growth, while Snacks posted a 6% organic decline amid weaker salty-snack demand and lower third-party/contract-manufacturing sales. Campbell’s finished fiscal 2026 with GAAP diluted EPS of $1.31 and adjusted EPS of $2.17. Management has shifted toward debt reduction, lowering the annualized dividend to $1.00 per share and launching a new cost-savings program aimed at delivering $500 million by fiscal 2030.
Top Financial Highlights
- Fourth-quarter net sales were $2.137 billion, down 8% year over year from $2.321 billion; organic sales declined 1%. The reported comparison includes an estimated 7-percentage-point impact from an extra week in the prior-year quarter.
- Fourth-quarter GAAP diluted EPS was a loss of $0.23, compared with earnings of $0.48 per share a year earlier.
- Fourth-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.39, down 37% from $0.62 in Q4 fiscal 2025.
- Fourth-quarter net loss attributable to Campbell’s was $60 million, compared with net earnings of $145 million in the prior-year quarter.
- Reported fourth-quarter gross profit fell 17% to $583 million.
- Reported fourth-quarter gross margin was 27.3%, down 310 basis points from approximately 30.4% in the prior-year period.
- Adjusted gross profit was $611 million, and adjusted gross margin declined 190 basis points to 28.6%, pressured by cost inflation, supply-chain costs, and tariff effects.
- Fourth-quarter GAAP EBIT fell to $4 million from $269 million; adjusted EBIT declined 25% to $242 million.
- Meals & Beverages revenue was $1.187 billion, down 4% as reported but up 3% organically; segment operating earnings fell 12% to $181 million.
- Snacks revenue was $950 million, down 12% as reported and down 6% organically; segment operating earnings fell 34% to $101 million.
- Fourth-quarter corporate expense rose to $226 million from $83 million, principally reflecting impairment charges, including a combined $117 million impairment involving the Cape Cod and Kettle Brand trademarks.
- Full-year fiscal 2026 operating cash flow was $1.0 billion, down from $1.1 billion in fiscal 2025; capital expenditures were $361 million.
- The company returned $496 million to shareholders during fiscal 2026, primarily via dividends.
- Campbell’s reduced its quarterly dividend by 36%, to $0.25 per share from $0.39; the new annualized rate is $1.00 per share.
- For fiscal 2027, management forecasts organic net-sales growth of negative 4% to negative 2%, adjusted EBIT growth of negative 12% to negative 7%, and adjusted EPS of $1.65 to $1.80.
Beat or Miss?
Campbell’s met the commonly cited adjusted EPS consensus but missed the revenue expectation. The sales miss, weak fiscal 2027 outlook, margin compression, and dividend reset outweighed the in-line profit result in investors’ initial reaction.
| Metric | Reported | Difference/Analysis |
| Q4 adjusted EPS | $0.39 | In line with consensus estimate of $0.39. |
| Q4 GAAP diluted EPS | ($0.23) | Down from $0.48 in Q4 fiscal 2025, reflecting lower profitability and non-comparable charges. |
| Q4 net sales | $2.137 billion | Below consensus of about $2.15 billion; a shortfall of roughly $13 million, or 0.6%, based on the cited consensus. |
| Q4 organic net-sales growth | -1% | Demand and volume/mix pressure in Snacks more than offset growth in Meals & Beverages. |
| Q4 adjusted EBIT | $242 million | Down 25% year over year, primarily due to lower adjusted gross profit. |
| FY2027 adjusted EPS guidance | $1.65–$1.80 | Midpoint of $1.73 is about 9% below the cited analyst consensus of $1.90. |
| FY2027 net-sales outlook | (4)% to (2)% | Indicates a second consecutive year of top-line contraction, with management expecting continued inflation and consumer-demand pressure. |
What Leadership Is Saying
“Fourth quarter and fiscal 2026 results reflect top-line softness and inflation-driven margin headwinds. Our performance is not where it needs to be, and we are taking decisive action to improve it.” — Mick Beekhuizen, President and Chief Executive Officer.
“As announced this morning, we are resetting the quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share,” said Chief Financial Officer Todd Cunfer, adding that the action is expected to reduce annual cash outflows by about $170 million for debt reduction.
Management’s strategic response rests on four pillars: restoring consumer focus and commercial execution, strengthening Snacks, cutting costs to reinvest in brands and protect margins, and reducing leverage. Campbell’s targets $500 million in cumulative cost savings by fiscal 2030; the new program incorporates remaining actions from its previous $375 million savings program, overhead reductions, spending optimization, plant closures, and workforce reductions.
Historical Performance
Consolidated Quarterly Comparison
| Category | Q4 Fiscal 2026 | Q4 Fiscal 2025 | Change (%) |
| Revenue / net sales | $2.137 billion | $2.321 billion | -8% |
| Net earnings attributable to Campbell’s | $(60) million | $145 million | Not meaningful; swung to loss |
| Net earnings attributable to common shareholders, diluted | $(69) million | $145 million | Not meaningful; swung to loss |
| GAAP EBIT | $4 million | $269 million | Not meaningful |
| Adjusted EBIT | $242 million | $321 million | -25% |
| Reported gross profit | $583 million | Approximately $705 million | -17% |
| Total costs and expenses | $2.133 billion | $2.052 billion | 4% |
| Restructuring charges | $52 million | $7 million | 643% |
Source: Campbell’s fiscal Q4 2026 release. The prior-year quarter contained 14 weeks, compared with 13 weeks in Q4 fiscal 2026, which management estimated affected comparable sales by approximately 7 percentage points.
Segment comparison
Campbell’s does not disclose separate quarterly financial statements for publicly traded direct competitors in its earnings release. The closest meaningful “competitor” comparison available within the company’s own reporting is the relative performance of its two major consumer-food operating segments.
| Category | Meals & Beverages, Q4 FY2026 | Snacks, Q4 FY2026 | Change / Competitive Read-through |
| Net sales | $1.187 billion | $950 million | Meals & Beverages declined 4% reported, versus a 12% decline in Snacks. |
| Organic net-sales growth | 3% | -6% | Meals & Beverages outperformed, supported by volume/mix; Snacks faced salty-snack and partner-brand weakness. |
| Segment operating earnings | $181 million | $101 million | Meals & Beverages declined 12%; Snacks declined 34%. |
| Operating margin | 15.20% | 10.60% | Derived from disclosed segment operating earnings divided by segment sales; Snacks carried weaker profitability. |
| Volume/mix | 3% | -6% | Shows a stark divergence in underlying demand and mix. |
The key investment implication is that Campbell’s core meals-and-beverages portfolio provided some resilience, whereas Snacks was the main source of earnings pressure. Campbell’s has said fiscal 2027 will begin with continued Snacks challenges, while it seeks to improve the business through execution, cost actions, and focused reinvestment.
Items Impacting Comparability
(Source: businesswire.com)
- The table summarizes the items affecting comparability in diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the three months and twelve months ended August 2, 2026, compared with August 3, 2025, and reconciles reported GAAP EPS with adjusted EPS.
- For the three months, reported GAAP EPS was a loss of $0.23 per share in 2026, compared with earnings of $0.48 per share in 2025. Major adjustments in 2026 included $0.29 per share of impairment charges, $0.19 related to cost-saving and optimization initiatives, and $0.05 associated with acquisitions. After these and other adjustments, diluted adjusted EPS reached $0.39, compared with $0.62 in the prior-year period.
- For the twelve months, reported GAAP diluted EPS was $1.31 in 2026, down from $2.01 in 2025. The largest adjustments included $0.51 per share for cost-saving and optimization initiatives and $0.29 for impairment charges. Certain items, including commodity mark-to-market gains and pension-related gains, reduced the adjustment amount. Adjusted diluted EPS stood at $2.17 in 2026, compared with $2.97 in 2025.
- Overall, the table shows that adjusted EPS remained above reported GAAP EPS in 2026, reflecting the exclusion of restructuring, impairment, acquisition-related, litigation, and other comparability items. However, both reported and adjusted EPS were lower than the corresponding 2025 levels. The company also noted that the 53rd week contributed approximately $0.06 per share to fiscal 2025 results.
How the Market Reacted?
The market reaction was negative. CPB shares fell about 6.2% on September 3 after the company’s fiscal 2027 adjusted-EPS guidance of $1.65 to $1.80 came in below the cited $1.90 consensus estimate. Other contemporaneous reports put the premarket decline between 6.65% and 9.61%, with shares trading near $22.20 or $21.50 versus the previous close of $23.78.
The selloff reflected a combination of the revenue miss, expected further sales and earnings contraction in fiscal 2027, margin pressure, and the 36% dividend cut undertaken to accelerate debt reduction.
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