By Jeffrey T. Lewis
Cal-Maine Foods Inc. said Tuesday it made a profit in the fourth quarter from a year earlier as sales of specialty eggs soured.
The Ridgeland, Miss.-based egg producer and distributor reported net income of $110 million in the 13 weeks through May 28, 2022, compared with a net loss of $4.2 million in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share reached $2.25, compared with a loss per share of 9 cents a year earlier, and net sales jumped to $593 million from $349.8 million.
The sales and profit figures beat market expectations. The median forecast of analysts surveyed by FactSet was for sales of $576 million in the period, and for net income of $85 million.
Cal-Maine is the biggest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs in the US, and sales volumes also rose in the period. In the fourth quarter, total dozens of eggs sold rose 6.3% to 272 million. Conventional egg sales volumes declined 3.5% from a year earlier, but sales volumes of specialty egg varieties such as free-range and organic rose 32.2% in the same period.
Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at [email protected]
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Credit: www.marketwatch.com /