Hormel Foods Q3 2026 earnings: profit tops estimates, sales fall short, one-time charges hit income

August 27, 2026

Hormel beat adjusted EPS estimates but missed on revenue, took one-time charges from its Brazil exit and an Indonesia write-down, and trimmed its sales outlook while raising its earnings guidance.

Key takeaways

• Adjusted profit per share came in slightly ahead of what analysts were expecting, but total revenue fell short of forecasts — the company sold fewer products than hoped even as it managed to protect profitability.
• Overall sales dipped as the Retail segment (grocery-store products) declined nearly 4%, while Foodservice (sales to restaurants and institutions) grew for a 12th straight quarter, helped by turkey products, pepperoni and premium prepared meats.
• Reported (GAAP) operating income dropped sharply from a year ago, to $111 million from about $240 million, mainly because of one-time items: the loss on selling its Brazil business, a write-down tied to a minority investment in Indonesia, and a legal settlement. Stripping those out, adjusted operating income actually improved.
• The company’s international business swung to a loss for the quarter, largely due to that Indonesia write-down, while sales in that region also fell.
• Brand highlights included solid growth for Spam, Applegate natural and organic meats, and Hormel chili, though the way some Spam export sales were recorded was temporarily affected by an internal legal-entity change.
• Hormel completed the sale of its Brazil operations (the Ceratti brand) early in the next quarter, part of a broader push to simplify its portfolio and focus international efforts on markets it sees as higher-growth.
• Management lowered its full-year sales outlook, now expecting $12.1–$12.2 billion instead of the earlier $12.2–$12.5 billion range, citing a tougher external environment and the effect of exiting Brazil.
• Despite the lower sales outlook, the company raised and narrowed its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to $1.45–$1.51 per share, saying it still expects earnings growth in line with or above its long-term targets.
• The trailing-twelve-month numbers show why margins matter here: gross margin near 16% and net profit margin under 4% reflect a low-margin business where small swings in costs or one-time charges have an outsized effect on the bottom line, and EPS over the past year is down nearly 38% versus the prior year, largely reflecting charges like the ones seen this quarter.
• Interim CEO Jeff Ettinger said the company delivered solid third-quarter results, grew adjusted earnings, and continued to advance its fiscal 2026 objectives.

Q3 2026 in context

Figures for the quarter ended Jul 2026 and the quarter ended Jul 2025, as reported to the SEC.

How the stock took it

Hormel Foods Corp closed at $23.71 on Aug 26, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $21.57 on Aug 28, 2026, the first session after it — -9.0% across the report.

Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.

Fundamentals

Financial history →

Sources: company report · earnings call