Kraft Heinz misses first-quarter sales estimates on sluggish demand

Bottles of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a brand owned by The Kraft Heinz Company, are seen in a store in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 11, 2021. Picture taken November 11, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/ File Photo

-Kraft Heinz missed Wall Street expectations for first-quarter sales on Wednesday, as inflation-weary consumers pushed back on higher prices of its branded lunch combos, meat cold cuts and mac & cheese.

Shares were down 4% before the bell, even as the packaged food maker kept unchanged its fiscal year 2024 targets.

In a shift from 2023 when government benefits helped Americans expand their grocery budgets, shoppers this year are hunting for value, prompting Kraft-Heinz and peers to re-jig their products and strategies following years of price hikes.

Overall volumes for the quarter fell 3.2 percentage points, while prices rose 2.7 percentage points across Kraft-Heinz’s portfolio.

Volumes decline in its biggest North America segment eased, down 3.7 percentage points from last year’s drop of 6.5 percentage points.

Kraft Heinz is leaning on promotions to help aid a recovery in volumes across its markets but still-high inflation has hampered those efforts.

The company still expects volumes to turn positive in the back half of the year.

The Heinz ketchup maker posted net sales of $6.41 billion in the three months ended March 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $6.43 billion, according to LSEG data.

Adjusted earnings per share of 69 was in line with analysts’ estimates.

The company maintained its forecasts for organic net sales growth to be flat to 2% and adjusted earnings to grow in the range of 1% to 3%.

(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)