Tuesday Campbell’s Co CPB missed market expectations for quarterly net sales and appointed insider Mick Beekhuizen as new CEO as the company focuses on a more diverse range of packaged food products amid challenging consumer demand .
Campbell’s shares fell about 4% in extended trading, after the company also reaffirmed its annual sales and profit targets, with total net revenue falling short of market expectations.
In recent years, packaged food companies like Campbell’s have faced stiff competition from more affordable private brands as consumers look to optimize their household budgets.
The company reaffirmed its annual target of net sales growth of 9% to 11% and adjusted earnings per share growth of 1% to 4%, saying that the ranges they reflect the balance between “expected sequential progress and pragmatism” in addressing uneven consumer demand for packaged goods.
Beekhuizen will succeed Mark Clouse as the company’s president and CEO, effective February 1, 2025.
The current holiday quarter will be an “important indicator of progress,” Clouse said in a statement. In January he will retire from Campbell’s after a six-year stint as CEO to become president of the NFL’s Washington Commanders.
A former chief financial officer of yogurt maker Chobani, Beekhuizen joined Campbell in 2019 as chief financial officer, before taking over as president of its meals and beverage division in 2022, where he oversaw the maker’s $2.7 billion acquisition of Sovos Brands sauces.
The company, which announced first-quarter results a day earlier than expected, said at its investor day in September that it would focus on 16 flagship brands (link) in its meals and beverages and snacks divisions, including Goldfish, V8 drinks and Prego sauces.
Campbell’s first-quarter net revenue rose to $2.77 billion from $2.52 billion a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected $2.80 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
However, first-quarter adjusted earnings per share, rivaling 89 cents, beat estimates of 87 cents, as cost-saving efforts and supply chain improvements helped offset the impact of price moderation and the increase in costs of production factors.
