By Aaron McDade

Kevin Carter / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• General Mills shares fell Wednesday as the cereal maker projected a larger fiscal 2026 profit drop than analysts expected.

• Fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter sales fell just short of estimates, while profit topped them.

• CEO Jeff Harmening said the company's "number one goal in fiscal 2026 is to restore volume-driven organic sales growth."

General Mills (GIS) shares fell Wednesday after the cereal maker's fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter sales came in short of estimates and it projected a bigger-than-expected profit decline for the new fiscal year.

The maker of Lucky Charms, Betty Crocker, and Pillsbury reported $4.56 billion in Q4 sales, down 3% year-over-year and just below the $4.58 billion Visible Alpha consensus. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.74 topped analysts' expected $0.71.

North America Pet sales grew 12% and International sales rose 11%, but they fell 10% in its North America Retail and 2% in North America Foodservice. Last quarter, the company said it expected "macroeconomic uncertainty to continue to impact consumers" in the fourth quarter.

For fiscal 2026, General Mills expects adjusted EPS down 10% to 15% from fiscal 2025's $4.21, with the entire ranging coming in below the $3.90 Visible Alpha expectation. Organic net sales are seen declining 1% to growing 1%, while analysts expect 0.1% growth.

CEO Jeff Harmening said the company's "number one goal in fiscal 2026 is to restore volume-driven organic sales growth."

General Mills shares fell 3.5% shortly after markets opened, putting them down almost 20% since the start of the year. Shares hit a low of $51.27 in the first minutes of trading, their lowest point since early 2020.

UPDATE—This article has been updated with the latest share price information.

Source: Investopedia