General Mills Flags 6% Inflation by Q4, Price Hikes Still Possible
GIS is trading near its 52-week low of $31.75 (12% above the low).
Summary
General Mills beat Q1 estimates but warned input-cost inflation will climb to roughly 6% by fiscal Q4, up from 4% now, with full-year inflation at the high end of its 4-5% range. CFO Kofi Bruce cited freight, grains, packaging, and Canadian tariffs as key pressures. Management said price hikes remain on the table, though it reaffirmed full-year adjusted EPS guidance of $3.00-$3.20. North America Retail organic sales fell 3%, and the pet segment faces weakness in Wilderness dry dog food. Leverage remains above 4x net debt-to-EBITDA, with a multi-year path back to 3x. This follows the Q1 earnings release earlier today; the new inflation trajectory and explicit price-hike optionality are the key incremental negatives for the stock.
At the time of this announcement, GIS was trading at $35.62 on NYSE in the Trade & Services sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $19B. The 52-week trading range was $31.75 to $51.33. This news item was assessed with negative market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Benzinga.