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Cal-Maine Foods Inc. on Tuesday reported that sales more than doubled and its profit increased eightfold in the third quarter, as prices for eggs rose significantly and even as avian bird flu continued to affect egg production.
Cal-Maine Foods
CALM,
shares rose about 4% after hours, after falling 1.8% in the regular session to close at $54.27, as its results beat Wall Street expectations.
The largest egg producer and distributor in the United States reported third-quarter net income of $323.2 million, or $6.62 a share, compared with $39.5 million, or 81 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue more than doubled to $997.5 million from $477.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The average selling price per dozen eggs rose to $3.68, compared with $1.46 in the year-ago period.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $5.47 a share on revenue of $888.2 million. They had expected an average selling price of $3.17 per dozen eggs.
Mississippi-based Cal-Maine did not provide numbers for a fourth-quarter outlook, though it did say “the [highly pathogenic avian influenza] HPAI outbreak will continue to exert downward pressure on the overall supply of eggs.” Analysts had forecast earnings of $2.99 a share on revenue of $697.6 million.
The company also said it would pay a cash dividend of about $2.20 a share for the third fiscal quarter, payable on May 11 to holders of record on April 26.
Also this week, Cal-Maine named Todd Walters chief operating officer. He had been vice president of operations for the company’s operations in South Texas since 2011.
Shares of Cal-Maine have risen about 0.2% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has increased 3.25% year to date.
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