GIS

A month has gone by since the last earnings report for General Mills (GIS). Shares have added about 1% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is General Mills due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. General Mills reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 results, wherein both top and bottom lines beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, both metrics declined year over year. The company posted adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share, down 13% year over year in constant currency but above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 72 cents. Quarterly profitability was pressured by higher input costs and lower volume, partly offset by favorable net price realization and mix. Net sales declined 3% year over year to $4,389.5 million, but topped the consensus estimate of $4,344 million. Organic net sales were essentially flat from the prior-year period. Adjusted gross margin contracted 90 basis points to 33.3% of net sales. Higher input costs drove the decline, while favorable net price realization and mix provided a partial offset. We expected an adjusted gross margin of 33.8%. Adjusted operating profit fell 11% in constant currency to $634 million, and adjusted operating margin declined 130 basis points to 14.4%. We expected an adjusted operating margin of 14.3% for the quarter. North America Retail sales declined 7% year over year to $2,451.8 million, including a 4-point headwind from the U.S. yogurt divestiture. Sales fell at a double-digit rate in Big G Cereal & Canada, including the divestiture impact, declined at a mid-single-digit rate in U.S. Snacks and were flat in U.S. Meals & Baking Solutions. Organic net sales decreased 3% and trailed Nielsen-measured retail sales by about 1 point due to changes in retailer inventory. Retail sales growth improved sequentially by 2 points, while dollar-share trends strengthened across most priority categories. North America Pet sales were essentially flat at $612.8 million. Cat food sales increased at a double-digit rate and pet treats grew at a low-single-digit rate, while dog food sales declined at a high-single-digit rate. Organic net sales were flat and exceeded all-channel retail sales growth by about 1 point, aided by an extra month of Whitebridge Pet Brands results following the alignment of its calendar with General Mills' August fiscal quarter end. North America Foodservice sales increased 1% to $523.1 million despite a 2-point headwind from the U.S. yogurt divestiture. Organic net sales advanced 4%, led by growth in cereal and frozen meals. The segment held or gained market share across all of its priority businesses. International sales grew 4% to $794.3 million, including a 1-point benefit from foreign currency exchange. Organic net sales also increased 4%, driven by growth in distributor markets, India and China. General Mills reaffirmed fiscal 2027 organic net sales growth of down 1.5% to up 0.5%. Adjusted operating profit is expected to be down 8-13% in constant currency, while adjusted earnings are projected at $3-$3.20 per share. Free cash flow conversion is expected to be approximately 95% of adjusted after-tax earnings. The company continues to target at least $750 million of savings from Holistic Margin Management, its global transformation initiative and other cost actions. It also expects roughly 9 points of operating-profit headwind and 11 points of earnings-per-share headwind from lapping the 53rd week, normalizing incentive expense and fiscal 2026 divestitures. The net impact of divestitures, foreign exchange and the 53rd week is expected to reduce reported sales growth by about 4%. It turns out, estimates revision have trended downward during the past month. At this time, General Mills has a subpar Growth Score of D, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with an F. However, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of D. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Interestingly, General Mills has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report General Mills, Inc. (GIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Over the last six months, General Mills's shares have sunk to $32.64, producing a disappointing 7.5% loss - a stark contrast to the S&P 500's 7.7% gain. This might have investors contemplating their next move. Is now the time to buy General Mills, or should you be careful about including it in your portfolio? Get the full stock story straight from our expert analysts, it's free. Despite the more favorable entry price, we don't have much confidence in General Mills. Here are three reasons why GIS doesn't excite us, plus one stock we'd rather own. Revenue growth can be broken down into changes in price and volume (the number of units sold). While both are important, volume is the lifeblood of a successful staples business as there's a ceiling to what consumers will pay for everyday goods; they can always trade down to non-branded products if the branded versions are too expensive. General Mills's average quarterly sales volumes have shrunk by 4.9% over the last two years. This decrease isn't ideal because the quantity demanded for consumer staples products is typically stable. Forecasted revenues by Wall Street analysts signal a company's potential. Predictions may not always be accurate, but accelerating growth typically boosts valuation multiples and stock prices while slowing growth does the opposite. Over the next 12 months, sell-side analysts expect General Mills's revenue to drop by 3.9%, close to its 3.4% annualized declines for the past three years. This projection is underwhelming and indicates its newer products will not accelerate its top-line performance yet. Operating margin is an important measure of profitability as it shows the portion of revenue left after accounting for all core expenses — everything from the cost of goods sold to advertising and wages. It's also useful for comparing profitability across companies with different levels of debt and tax rates because it excludes interest and taxes. Analyzing the trend in its profitability, General Mills's operating margin decreased by 23 percentage points over the last year. Even though its historical margin was healthy, shareholders will want to see General Mills become more profitable in the future. Its operating margin for the trailing 12 months was negative 1.1%. General Mills doesn't pass our quality test. Following the recent decline, the stock trades at 10.7× forward P/E (or $32.64 per share). While this valuation is reasonable, we don't see a big opportunity at the moment. There are superior stocks to buy right now. We'd recommend looking at one of our top software and edge computing picks. ONE MORE THING: Top 6 Stocks for This Week. This market is separating quality stocks from expensive ones fast. AI is taking down whole sectors with no warning. In a rotation this fast, you need more than a list of good companies. Our AI system flagged Palantir before it ran 1,662% between October 2022 and February 2026. AppLovin before it ran 753% between February 2024 and February 2026. Nvidia before it ran 1,178% between January 2023 and February 2026. Each week it produces 6 new names that pass the same tests. Get Our Top 6 Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+1,154% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image from Pixabay PepsiCo (PEP) shares gained 3.7% on October 8, 2026, the day it reported fiscal Q3 2026. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% during the same session. That advance came even as executives lowered their full-year earnings growth forecast while simultaneously raising their sales forecast. Buyers might be wagering that the company can continue to move higher volumes of food and beverages, leaving elevated costs as only a temporary headwind. So is the sales growth solid, and will rising costs keep squeezing its profit? PepsiCo Is Selling More Food And Drinks Sales growth has picked up so far. PepsiCo posted $25.3 billion in revenue, topping the consensus estimate of $24.9 billion. The company also reported core earnings per share of $2.34, ahead of projections of $2.29. Revenue for fiscal Q3 2026 increased 5.6% from a year earlier, outpacing the 2.6% growth recorded in fiscal Q3 2025. Executives noted on the October 8 call that the company moved more product: global beverage volume climbed 3%, and global food volume rose 1%. They described a stellar quarter for international operations, where organic revenue advanced 8%. The domestic market provided the soft spot. North American beverage operations slowed during the quarter, executives said, even though the region's food business improved from fiscal Q2 2026. PepsiCo Expects Rising Costs To Squeeze Its Profit Profitability remains the weaker side of the ledger, and executives anticipate further pressure before the year ends. At the midpoint of its range, PepsiCo now expects core earnings per share to grow 3.0% in fiscal 2026. That marks a decline from its previous outlook of growth at the low end of a 5% to 7% range. Management told analysts on the call that the margin, rather than sales, is behind the downward revision. Input costs are trending higher, and the specific mix of products sold is working against profit. PepsiCo had hedged its costs for six to 12 months. Those hedges are now running off, meaning more of the higher commodity costs will surface in the fourth quarter. Reported operating margin actually rose to 16.9% in fiscal Q3 2026 from 14.9% a year earlier. The squeeze shows up in the core figures instead. Core operating profit grew 3% and EPS rose 2%, both slower than sales. Management said margin performance remains below its own expectations. What Is Behind PepsiCo's Higher Sales Forecast? Currency fluctuations and acquisitions drove the sales upgrade, rather than accelerating growth in the existing business. PepsiCo raised its fiscal 2026 forecast for net revenue growth to 6.0%, up from the 5.0% projected in July. Executives expect currency to add 1.5 points to that total and acquisitions, net of divestitures, to supply another 1.5 points. The underlying organic growth forecast stayed flat at 3.0%. If volume gains fade while costs continue to climb, the higher sales forecast leaves shareholders with no additional organic growth to fall back on. Executives also declined to provide an outlook for 2027 margins on the call, stating they would rather not offer a partial view at this time. Sales growth looks solid for now, with higher volumes of food and drinks sold globally. At the same time, profitability faces mounting pressure from costs, and executives anticipate more of that strain materializing in the fourth quarter. Full-year core EPS growth, measured against the new 2.5% to 3.5% guide, will be the central figure to watch when PepsiCo reports in early February 2027. Does This Mean You Should Act On PEP? Our purpose is to inform you with unique data so you make the right investment decisions. That said, betting on a single stock is always risky, no matter which direction you choose. There is a smarter approach. Since its inception, the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio has returned 105%, beating the benchmark that combines the three major indices - the S&P 500, S&P Mid-cap, and Russell 2000. And it did so without taking the concentrated risk that comes with do-it-yourself stock picking. If that is how you want to invest, the HQ Portfolio is the place to start.

General Mills, Inc. GIS presents a familiar value-stock dilemma. Its valuation has compressed well below historical norms, but fiscal 2027 still points to lower earnings and profit. The investment case therefore depends less on how cheap GIS looks today and more on whether improving brand execution and large cost-savings programs can rebuild growth before the earnings reset runs its course. GIS trades at 10.20X forward 12-month earnings, below the Zacks sub-industry's 13.91X and its own five-year median of 14.47X. The stock also offers a 7.7% dividend yield, adding an income component to the value case. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research That discount is meaningful, but it is not automatically a bargain signal. General Mills is being valued against a backdrop of weak volume trends, limited near-term organic growth and lower expected earnings, all of which can justify a lower multiple. For fiscal 2027, General Mills expects adjusted operating profit to decline 8%-13% in constant currency and adjusted earnings of $3-$3.20 per share, down from $3.55 in fiscal 2026. Roughly nine points of operating-profit pressure and 11 points of earnings pressure stem from prior-year comparison items. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The remaining pressure matters. First-quarter adjusted operating profit fell 11% in constant currency, adjusted operating margin declined 130 basis points and net interest expense increased to $142 million from $133 million. The Campbell's Company CPB is dealing with a similar packaged-food reset, with inflation-driven margin pressure and a renewed focus on cost reduction and balance-sheet improvement. North America Retail trends are improving. U.S. retail sales declined 2.3% in the fiscal first quarter, a sequential improvement from the second half of fiscal 2026, while dollar-share trends strengthened across most priority categories and Pillsbury stabilized after eight quarters of declines. Growth is broader outside core U.S. retail. International and North America Foodservice each delivered 4% organic sales growth in the first quarter. In Pet, cat food rose double digits, led by brands including Tiki Cat and Blue Tastefuls, although high-single-digit dog-food declines remain a material offset. General Mills is targeting at least $3 billion in cumulative savings through fiscal 2030, including at least $750 million in fiscal 2027. Roughly $2 billion is expected from Holistic Margin Management, with about $1 billion coming primarily from transformation and other efficiencies. The plan includes supply-chain redesign, process simplification and AI-enabled efficiency, with management expecting faster earnings and cash-flow growth beginning in fiscal 2028. Conagra Brands, Inc. CAG offers another reminder that productivity alone may not immediately resolve industry pressure: its fiscal 2027 first-quarter gross profit still fell as inflation and weaker organic sales outweighed higher productivity. GIS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), alongside a Value Score of B, Growth Score of D, Momentum Score of C and VGM Score of C. The Value Score supports the case that the shares screen attractively on valuation, while the weaker Growth Score reflects a less convincing near-term earnings profile. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Zacks Style Scores are designed to complement the Zacks Rank, not replace it. For GIS, the mix points to an inexpensive stock without a broad confirmation from growth or momentum. That keeps the case balanced: valuation and income are supportive, but a stronger buy argument likely requires clearer evidence that sales improvement and savings can translate into sustained earnings growth. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report General Mills, Inc. (GIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Conagra Brands (CAG) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Campbell's Company (CPB) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

General Mills, Inc. GIS topped first-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings and sales expectations, but the underlying picture remained mixed. Better execution helped results come in ahead of forecasts even as profit measures declined from a year earlier. The reaffirmed full-year outlook keeps the recovery case measured. General Mills is showing progress in selected businesses, but weaker volume, input-cost pressure and uneven segment trends still limit the pace of earnings improvement. General Mills, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | General Mills, Inc. Quote General Mills posted adjusted earnings of 75 cents per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 72 cents. Net sales of $4.39 billion also surpassed the consensus estimate of $4.34 billion. The beats did not signal a return to growth. Adjusted earnings fell 13% in constant currency, while reported net sales declined 3% year over year. Organic net sales were essentially flat, showing that the company outperformed expectations without reversing the broader earnings pressure. Adjusted gross margin fell 90 basis points to 33.3% of net sales. Higher input costs weighed on profitability, partly offset by favorable net price realization and mix. Adjusted operating profit declined 11% in constant currency to $634 million, while adjusted operating margin fell 130 basis points to 14.4%. The pressure resembles broader packaged-food challenges. The Campbell's Company CPB reported a 190-basis-point decline in adjusted gross margin in its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter as cost inflation and supply-chain costs outweighed productivity gains. North America Retail organic sales fell 3% in the quarter, although retail sales trends improved sequentially and dollar-share trends strengthened across most priority categories. North America Foodservice and International each delivered 4% organic sales growth. North America Pet organic sales were flat. Double-digit cat-food growth and low-single-digit growth in pet treats were offset by a high-single-digit decline in dog food. Mondelez International, Inc. MDLZ offers a useful industry contrast, with second-quarter 2026 organic net revenues up 2.2% and adjusted gross margin up 20 basis points as pricing and productivity supported results. Management reaffirmed fiscal 2027 organic net sales growth of down 1.5% to up 0.5%. Adjusted operating profit is still expected to decline 8%-13% in constant currency, while adjusted earnings are projected at $3-$3.20 per share. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The unchanged targets indicate that the first-quarter beat did not materially change the expected full-year reset. General Mills still expects comparison headwinds from the prior year's extra week, normalized incentive compensation and divested yogurt earnings, while cost savings and brand investments are intended to support improvement as the year progresses. The first-quarter report showed better execution in parts of the portfolio, but the earnings picture remains constrained by lower margins and uneven demand. That combination leaves the investment case dependent on whether current operating improvements can broaden and become durable. GIS currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). It also has a Value Score of B, Growth Score of D, Momentum Score of C and VGM Score of C. The scores point to better value characteristics than growth or momentum characteristics, while the Zacks Rank supports a more measured stance until earnings trends show clearer improvement. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report General Mills, Inc. (GIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Campbell's Company (CPB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

MINNEAPOLIS, October 10, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--General Mills, Inc. (NYSE: GIS) today announced the pricing terms, expiration and results of its previously announced tender offers (each, a "Tender Offer" and together, the "Tender Offers") to purchase for cash the debt securities issued by General Mills referred to below (collectively, the "Notes," and each a "Series"). Each Tender Offer has been made upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated October 5, 2026 (the "Offer to Purchase") and any related documents (together with the Offer to Purchase, the "Tender Offer Documents"). Capitalized terms used but not defined in this press release have the meanings given to them in the Offer to Purchase. The Tender Offers expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 9, 2026 (such time and date, the "Expiration Date"). Withdrawal rights for the Tender Offers expired at the Expiration Date, and accordingly, Notes validly tendered in the Tender Offers may no longer be withdrawn except where additional withdrawal rights are required by law. At the Expiration Date, according to information provided by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the tender and information agent for the Tender Offers, the aggregate principal amount of each Series of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Tender Offers and the aggregate principal amount of each Series of Notes accepted for purchase are set forth in the table below. Series of Notes | CUSIP / ISIN Number(1) | Aggregate Principal Amount Outstanding Prior to Tender Offer | Sub Cap | Acceptance Priority Level | Reference Security | Reference Yield | Fixed Spread (Basis Points) | Tender Consideration(2) | Principal Amount Tendered | Principal Amount Accepted | Approximate Proration Factor(3) 3.000% Senior Notes due 2051 | 370334 CP7 / US370334CP78 370334 CM4 / US370334CM48 ••••7031 DD7 / USU37031DD75 | $605,238,000 | N/A | 1 | 5.000% UST due May 15, 2056 | 5.602% | +55 | $605.13 | $196,704,000 | $196,704,000 | 100.00% 4.150% Senior Notes due 2043 | 370334 BP8 / US370334BP87 | $434,917,000 | N/A | 2 | 5.125% UST due August 15, 2046 | 5.651% | +70 | $778.17 | $86,471,000 | $86,471,000 | 100.00% 4.700% Senior Notes due 2048 | 370334 CJ1 / US370334CJ19 | $446,185,000 | N/A | 3 | 5.125% UST due August 15, 2046 | 5.651% | +75 | $802.79 | $91,589,000 | $91,589,000 | 100.00% 2.250% Senior Notes due 2031 | 370334 CQ5 / US370334CQ51 | $500,000,000 | N/A | 4 | 5.000% UST due September 30, 2031 | 5.021% | +40 | $862.73 | $290,082,000 | $290,082,000 | 100.00% 4.550% Senior Notes due 2038 | 370334 CH5 / US370334CH52 | $282,447,000 | $250,000,000 | 5 | 4.625% UST due August 15, 2036 | 5.244% | +85 | $873.60 | $79,047,000 | $79,047,000 | 100.00% 2.875% Senior Notes due 2030 | 370334 CL6 / US370334CL64 | $750,000,000 | 6 | 5.000% UST due September 30, 2031 | 5.021% | +30 | $922.76 | $361,138,000 | $185,131,000 | 51.55% 5.400% Senior Notes due 2040 | 370334 BJ2 / US370334BJ28 | $382,536,000 | 7 | 4.625% UST due August 15, 2036 | 5.244% | +100 | $923.06 | $55,731,000 | — | N/A ____________________ (1) | | No representation is made as to the correctness or accuracy of the CUSIP or ISIN numbers listed above. | | (2) | | Payable per each $1,000 principal amount of Notes of a Series validly tendered, not validly withdrawn and accepted for purchase at or prior to the Expiration Date. Each Tender Consideration was determined in the manner described in the Tender Offer Documents. | | (3) | | Rounded for presentation purposes. The Tender Consideration was determined at 3:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 9, 2026. General Mills' obligation to complete a Tender Offer with respect to the Notes validly tendered is conditioned on the satisfaction or waiver of conditions described in the Offer to Purchase. For the Notes accepted for purchase, all conditions to the Tender Offer with respect to such Notes were satisfied or waived on or prior to the Expiration Date. On October 14, 2026, Holders whose Notes have been accepted for purchase will also receive an Accrued Interest Payment. The Notes validly tendered but not accepted for purchase will be returned promptly to the tendering Holders in accordance with the Offer to Purchase. Information Relating to the Tender Offers BofA Securities, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as the dealer managers for the Tender Offers. Investors with questions regarding the Tender Offers may contact BofA Securities at (980) 387-3907 (collect) or (888) 292-0070 (toll-free), or email [email protected], Citigroup at (212) 723-6106 (collect) or (800) 558-3745 (toll-free), or email [email protected], or Morgan Stanley at (212) 761-1057 (collect) or (800) 624-1808 (toll-free), or email [email protected]. D.F. King & Co., Inc. served as the tender and information agent for the Tender Offers and can be contacted at (212) 561-5775 (collect) or (888) 564-8149 (toll-free), or email [email protected]. The Offer to Purchase may be accessed at the following web address: www.dfking.com/GIS. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy or an offer to purchase or sell any securities. The Tender Offers were made only pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and only to such persons and in such jurisdictions as is permitted under applicable law. About General Mills General Mills makes food the world loves. General Mills is guided by its Accelerate strategy to boldly build its brands, relentlessly innovate, unleash its scale and stand for good. Its portfolio of beloved brands includes household names like Cheerios, Nature Valley, Blue Buffalo, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Totino's, Annie's, Wanchai Ferry and more. General Mills generated fiscal 2026 net sales of U.S. $18 billion. In addition, General Mills' share of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1 billion. Note on Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on General Mills' current expectations and assumptions. The words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "may continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "plan," "project," or similar expressions identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results and those currently anticipated or projected. General Mills cautions you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. In connection with the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, General Mills is identifying important factors that could affect its financial performance and could cause its actual results in future periods to differ materially from any current opinions or statements. General Mills future results could be affected by a variety of factors, such as: imposed and threatened tariffs by the United States and its trading partners; disruptions or inefficiencies in the supply chain; competitive dynamics in the consumer foods industry and the markets for General Mills' products, including new product introductions, advertising activities, pricing actions, and promotional activities of its competitors; economic conditions, including changes in inflation rates, interest rates, tax rates, tariffs, or the availability of capital; product development and innovation; consumer acceptance of new products and product improvements; consumer reaction to pricing actions and changes in promotion levels; acquisitions or dispositions of businesses or assets; changes in capital structure; changes in the legal and regulatory environment, including tax legislation, labeling and advertising regulations, and litigation; impairments in the carrying value of goodwill, other intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, or changes in the useful lives of other intangible assets; changes in accounting standards and the impact of critical accounting estimates; product quality and safety issues, including recalls and product liability; changes in consumer demand for General Mills products; effectiveness of advertising, marketing, and promotional programs; changes in consumer behavior, trends, and preferences, including weight loss trends; consumer perception of health-related issues, including obesity; consolidation in the retail environment; changes in purchasing and inventory levels of significant customers; fluctuations in the cost and availability of supply chain resources, including raw materials, packaging, energy, and transportation; effectiveness of restructuring, transformation, and cost saving initiatives; volatility in the market value of derivatives used to manage price risk for certain commodities; benefit plan expenses due to changes in plan asset values and discount rates used to determine plan liabilities; failure or breach of General Mills' information technology systems; foreign economic conditions, including currency rate fluctuations and tariffs; and political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war. You should also consider the risk factors that we identify in Item 1A of Part I of General Mills' Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 31, 2026, which could also affect General Mills' future results. General Mills undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of those statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261009314327/en/ Contacts (Investors) Jeff Siemon: +1-763-764-3202 (Media) Chelcy Walker: +1-763-764-6364

- Interested in General Mills, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. - General Mills is targeting approximately $3 billion in cost savings from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030, including about $750 million in fiscal 2027, through margin management, supply-chain redesign, process simplification and digital tools such as AI forecasting. - The company's fiscal 2027 growth plan focuses on stronger organic sales through product innovation, improved consumer value and portfolio concentration in higher-potential categories and markets. - Shareholders preliminarily approved all five management proposals, while a proposal restricting blank-check preferred-stock authority received majority support; proposals on human-rights and pesticide disclosures failed to gain majority backing. - MarketBeat Week in Review – 09/21 - 09/25 General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Harmening told shareholders at the company's 98th annual meeting that fiscal 2026 ended with fourth-quarter results in line with expectations and improving volume trends, household penetration and innovation. He said the company is aiming for stronger sales and earnings growth in fiscal 2027 after a challenging prior year marked by slower category growth, a pressured consumer backdrop and higher costs of generating volume. Harmening said General Mills reduced everyday prices on roughly two-thirds of its North America retail portfolio during fiscal 2026 as consumers remained value-conscious. The company also improved share performance in North America retail, North America pet and North America foodservice, while its international business delivered strong sales and operating-profit growth, he said. → 5 Scary-Good Stocks With Strong October Catalysts and Breakout Potential - The Case for Buying High-Yield General Mills Just Strengthened The company continued reshaping its portfolio during fiscal 2026, completing the divestiture of its U.S. yogurt business and announcing divestitures of its Brazil business, which has since closed, and its mainland China Häagen-Dazs Shops business. Harmening said the moves will concentrate General Mills on categories and geographies where it sees its strongest long-term opportunities for profitable growth. For fiscal 2027, the company outlined three priorities: - Strengthen organic sales growth through more compelling consumer experiences. - Create funding for growth through cost savings, process simplification, efficiency efforts and supply-chain redesign. - Maintain disciplined capital allocation through cash generation, business reinvestment, dividend support and debt reduction. → Akamai's Anthropic Deal Puts $5.5 Billion Behind Its Edge AI Pivot - General Mills Is a 5-Star Turnaround Play for Buy and Hold Investors Harmening said the company's "remarkable experiences" framework evaluates brands across product, packaging, brand communication, omnichannel execution and value. Planned innovation and renovation will focus on consumer benefits including protein and fiber, bold flavors, indulgence and more humanized pet-food offerings. Examples cited by Harmening included Honey Nut Cheerios protein cereal, improved Häagen-Dazs Belgian chocolate ice cream, Annie's Fiber Pals fruit snacks and Blue Buffalo Love Made Fresh dog food. He said first-quarter fiscal 2027 results, reported one week before the meeting, represented an "encouraging start" with improved top-line performance supported by product innovation and renovation. → 2 Cybersecurity Stocks Breaking Out as AI Continues to Be a Tailwind General Mills expects to generate approximately $3 billion in cost savings from fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2030 through its holistic margin management program, transformation initiative and other actions. Harmening said the company expects about $750 million of savings in fiscal 2027. About $2 billion of the multiyear target is expected to come from holistic margin management, while the transformation initiative is expected to provide the remaining $1 billion. Harmening said the company is using digital tools in its supply chain, including AI-driven demand forecasting, manufacturing optimization and logistics scheduling. The transformation program will be focused largely on the supply chain, including capacity utilization, network design, innovation speed, packaging flexibility and e-commerce capabilities. Addressing competition from private-label and smaller brands, Harmening said the company's earlier pricing actions helped address value gaps and "stunted" private-label share growth. He said General Mills has increased the pace of new-product innovation by roughly 50% over the past several years and improved its market-share position in most of its top North America retail categories, as well as in foodservice and international. General Counsel and Corporate Secretary Karen Wilson Thissen said preliminary results indicated that shareholders approved all five management proposals. Those included the election of 12 directors, an advisory vote on executive compensation, ratification of KPMG as independent auditor, officer exculpation provisions permitted under Delaware law and a federal forum provision for Securities Act claims. Stephen W. Sanger was recognized for his board service and did not stand for re-election. Preliminary voting also indicated that shareholder proposals concerning human-rights disclosures and pesticide-reduction disclosures did not receive majority support. However, a shareholder proposal related to blank-check preferred stock received majority support. Matt Prescott, president and chief operating officer of The Accountability Board, said Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis had recommended support for the blank-check preferred-stock proposal. Thissen said General Mills' board opposed the measure, arguing that its existing authority to issue cumulative preference stock had never been used for anti-takeover purposes and that restricting the authority could limit capital-structure and strategic flexibility. The board also opposed the proposals seeking reports on the effectiveness of human-rights due diligence and regenerative-agriculture outcomes, including pesticide reduction. Thissen said the company already provides disclosures through its Global Responsibility Report and Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement, and that requiring pesticide-use tracking could add cost and complexity for farmers. Final voting results, including votes received before the meeting's adjournment, are expected to be reported in a Form 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days. General Mills, Inc is a global food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer food products. Its portfolio includes cereals, snacks, refrigerated and shelf-stable meals, baking products, yogurt, and pet food. The company's brands include Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Nature Valley, Old El Paso, Yoplait, Blue Buffalo, and Häagen-Dazs in markets where it owns or licenses the brand. General Mills sells its products through grocery stores, mass merchants, convenience stores, e-commerce channels, restaurants, and other foodservice providers. General Mills traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, founded in 1856, and adopted the General Mills name in 1928. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "General Mills Targets $3B in Savings as It Maps Fiscal 2027 Growth Plan" was originally published by MarketBeat. 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Image source: The Motley Fool. Sept. 23, 2026 Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Finance - Jeff Siemon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Jeffrey Harmening Chief Operating Officer - Dana McNabb Chief Financial Officer - Kofi Bruce Operator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to General Mills Fiscal 2027 Q1 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand the conference over to Jeff Siemon, Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Finance. Jeff, please go ahead. Jeff Siemon: Thank you, Warren, and good morning to everyone. Thanks for joining us today for this live Q&A session on our first quarter fiscal '27 results. I hope you all had time to review our press release, listen to the prepared remarks and view our presentation materials, which we made available this morning on our Investor Relations website. Please note that in our Q&A session, we may make forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions. So please refer to this morning's press release for factors that could impact forward-looking statements and for reconciliations of non-GAAP information, which we may discuss on today's call. I'm here this morning with Jeffrey Harmening, our Chairman and CEO; Dana McNabb, our COO; and Kofi Bruce, our CFO. With that, we'll go ahead and open it up for Q&A. So Warren, could you please get us started? Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Andrew Lazar with Barclays. Andrew Lazar: Nice to see some sequential improvement starting to show through. I guess I'd like to get a sense of the sort of pace of improvement in NAR specifically going forward. I know this quarter, you saw retail trends improve sequentially. In 2Q, I guess, would you expect further sequential improvement from the minus 2% retail consumption that we saw this quarter? Or should we expect more of a stabilization at this point? And again, I'm talking about retail takeaway, which excludes all the timing issue and whatnot. Dana McNabb: Andrew, thanks for the question. Our focus is really on continuing to improve dollar share trends. I'm not going to get into quarterly Nielsen estimates, but we are pleased with the improvement. We saw a 2-point improvement in dollar sales. We did improve our share performance in the majority of our categories. But as you probably noticed, we're not all the way to growth yet. So we still have work to do. Where we're focused is really the first thing you'll see is we expect an improvement in price mix. If you recall, in Q1, we hadn't lapped our base price investments yet. We will start to do that in Q2, and we like the plans we have against product mix, premium innovation and price pack architecture. We also will see accelerated innovation and renovation, and we really like how our marketing is performing right now. We'll continue to focus on that. So again, we still have work to do. We have the Totino's business that was a problem for us all last year. We've cut those declines in half. That's an area we'll continue to focus on, and we expect to see improved dollar performance throughout the year. Andrew Lazar: Great. And then I guess, focusing in on the share piece. In NAR a year ago, it seemed like General Mills was showing sort of negative volume and share really across a pretty wide swath of categories. What does that look like today versus a year ago? And if it's a far smaller number of categories today where the issues are, what's the sort of the planned fix for those? Dana McNabb: Well, as you mentioned, we were in a tough spot last year. And this year, we have seen pretty good improvement, and we're encouraged by the momentum. We saw improvement in the majority of our categories. And I'll give you a couple of examples. If I look at cereal, where last year in Q1, our share was down 0.9. This year in Q1, we're only down 0.1. Soup, another big business, we were down 0.4 in share. This year, we're only down 0.1. So we really do like what we're seeing, and we're not to growth yet. We know we still have more work to do, and that's going to be an emphasis on price mix and innovation and renovation. The 2 spots that we're keeping our eye on where we need to see more improvement is Totino's, which I've already talked to. Pleased again that we cut those declines in half, but we have more work to do. And we have really good product innovation, blasted rolls. We have some better merchandising. We have strong innovation -- sorry, strong renovation coming. So we feel good about that. And then we have some challenges on fruit snacks. Now the category is growing remarkably fast. It's up about 13% in Q1. But we're really seeing some small insurgent brands enter and drive that with increased distribution. And so we need to up our game there. We're going to really leverage our Annie's brand to bring some very strong new products to market. We've just launched Nature Pals, which is a high-fiber fruit snack, great taste with some great renovation coming on our core business. So Totino's and fruit is where we'll focus on, and then we expect to see continued improvement in the rest of our brands. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Peter Galbo with Bank of America. Peter Galbo: Kofi, I was hoping you could shed a little bit more light on the inflation guidance, obviously, having moved kind of up towards the higher end of the 4% to 5% range. I think it might be helpful just to outline maybe where inflation came in, in Q1 and then just how you kind of see it pacing over the balance of the year and where that kind of exit rate on inflation might be as things currently stand today? Kofi Bruce: Sure. Pete, thanks for the question. Just to give you some texture, we did see inflation roughly within the range, maybe a touch lower than we expected in Q1, but at the low end of our range, around 4%, which if I look forward and take into account sort of our hedge positions, I would expect Q1, Q2, Q3 to be roughly similar and Q4 to be just a touch outside the range at around 6% based on everything in front of us right now. Peter Galbo: Got it. Okay. That's very helpful. And I wanted to dig in a little bit on pet. I know there were a couple of maybe timing elements that happened in the quarter, the extra month of Whitebridge. But maybe the other thing that stood out was just the inventory -- the retailer inventory headwind wasn't maybe as dramatic as you all would have anticipated in Q1. And I just wanted to pressure test a little bit on the go forward. How much of that low single-digit headwind is maybe conservatism in pet versus Q1 being a bit of an anomaly from a retailer headwind standpoint? Kofi Bruce: Sure. Let me start with Whitebridge first. I think as is consistent with most of our past acquisitions of any size, we generally are on a 1-month lag until we hit systems integration, and then we do a catch-up that almost always -- that has always flown through organic sales. So that was expected at some point, 1 month. So -- and then the other point, I would tell you that it was worth about 1 point of growth on pet, maybe 15 basis points for the company. So not frankly, all of that -- all that large. On inventory, what I would tell you is, this is -- we've been doing this long enough, and the challenge is just on pet, there is a lot of volatility quarter-to-quarter. I do think based on the customer mix progression that we still expect a low single-digit headwind from inventory over the course of the year, mainly as our mix skews more and more towards customers who carry lower inventory levels. I can't probably get too precise on a quarterly basis about how that's going to flow. So we would still stand by that forecast for the full year, however. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Robert Moskow with TD Cowen. Robert Moskow: I was hoping to drill down on the high single-digit decline in dog food. Love Made Fresh, I believe, was entirely incremental in the quarter. So can you tell us how incremental it was because it wasn't in there a year ago? And what's driving the decline? Is it just Wilderness? Or is there other factors? Dana McNabb: Rob, thanks for the question. You're right. When you look at our pet business right now, we're really pleased with the growth that we're seeing on our cat business. Our treats business has inflected to growth, and we've seen significant improvement in Love Made Fresh. But the area that we're having challenges in our dry dog business. From a dry dog perspective, the category was down about mid-single digits, as you said. Life Protection Formula pretty much hung in there with the category, and it was Wilderness where we saw declines accelerate. And Wilderness is a place you will have heard on the prepared remarks where we've actually applied our Remarkable Experience Framework testing to that business to try and diagnose the challenges. And we see that we really have to relook at the entire proposition of the product, the packaging, the marketing, the communication. We have work to do. And we have the same challenge on our cat Tastefuls business a few years ago, and it took us about 18 to 24 months to improve it, and that business is back to growth now. So the main challenge we see is on Wilderness. And on Life Protection Formula, we have some really good product news and renovation and new products coming in the back half that will really emphasize our ingredient superiority with benefits we know pet parents are looking for. And I really like the plans that are coming in the back half. Robert Moskow: Okay. Just a quick follow-up. Wet dog food, a small part of your business, but how is that doing? I heard that there might be some shelf changes at specialty retailers in wet. Dana McNabb: Wet dog food is doing as we expected. It is down about 4%, but that is not worse than we had planned. And I'm actually not familiar with the challenges that you're talking to. As far as I know, our plans are on track. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Leah Jordan with Goldman Sachs. Leah Jordan: It sounds like the step-up in innovation and renovation you've done this year has been working. Just seeing if you could provide more detail on what's tracking better than expected? And what is that telling you about the consumer? And then on the acceleration, Dana, that you noted that's still to come, what should we be looking for? I think you called out cereal specifically for later this year, but any detail there as well? Dana McNabb: So thanks for the question. From a new products perspective, we're really encouraged with what we're seeing. We've stepped up the amount of new products. We've increased by about 50% over the last 2 years. We've gone from 3% of net sales to 5% of net sales. And we really are focused on bringing new products with benefits. We know the consumer values and will pay for. So when you look at the new products that have launched in Q1, we've seen really strong performance behind our protein cereals, particularly Honey Nut Cheerios, our Blasted Totino's Rolls that are bringing new bold flavors are doing really well. Our La Tiara launch is also working really well in the Mexican category. And of course, we've seen Love Made Fresh improve pretty significantly. So again, we're still 1 quarter in, but we're encouraged by the trial and repeat that we're seeing on those new products. And as we look more to the back half of the year, I already mentioned that Life Protection Formula has some great innovation coming with benefits. We know the consumer values. We are leaning into significant new products in our snacks categories. So our bars categories, we're going to lean into more protein innovation there on Nature Valley, on Larabar. We're scaling up our GHOST bars business, and we're even launching a meat snack in our EPIC business, and we'll continue to bring really strong marketing behind all of that. So I really think we understand what the consumer values, and we are bringing them appropriately to the categories that we play in, and we'll continue to see improved momentum going forward. Leah Jordan: And then for a follow-up to Kofi. Just seeing if you could talk about gross margin and maybe puts and takes as we go through the year, just putting the input cost inflation commentary you highlighted, which accelerated in the fourth quarter, as you think about that balancing versus the productivity efforts you have on the come and any flow that we should keep in mind as that mix piece ramps? Kofi Bruce: Yes. So in aggregate, at sort of at the macro level, if you take our inflation guide and our guidance on HMM cost savings, those still roughly we expect to offset over the full year, set aside any of the phasing commentary I gave you. I think the other important thing to call out are the mechanical factors around 53rd week, which will obviously have an impact on gross margins as we move through the back half of the year, just solely on that comparison. If you strip that out, actually, we would expect our gross margins net to be roughly flat ex that mechanical factor. And then at operating margin, we would just add the incentive comp reset as an additional mechanical factor on top of that. But all things equal, those are kind of the big puts and takes I'd be watching. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Chris Carey with Wells Fargo Securities. Christopher Carey: Dana, you mentioned that pricing was -- you were constructive about pricing. I can't remember exactly how you framed it over the course of the year. Do you have a different expectation for pricing relative to where you started the year? I'm just conscious that foodservice pricing came in better, pet pricing came in better, although I assume mix was partly a factor there. So I'm just wondering if your pricing plans are similar, namely in the context of the current inflation backdrop? And then I have a follow-up. Dana McNabb: Chris, thanks for the question. Well, as you know, we did a lot of work last year to adjust our everyday prices, and that was really important to stabilize our base volume and to help us get back to household penetration growth. And so with that investment behind us as we move to fiscal '27, we're really focused on driving positive price mix. And that's with particularly strong contributions from product mix, from premium innovation, from price pack architecture, and we're seeing that work on things like Cheerios Protein, Love Made Fresh, Chex Mix tubs, et cetera. So that is where we're focused. As Kofi did mention in his prepared remarks, though, we expect input cost inflation in the higher end of what we previously communicated in the 4% to 5%. And as we always do, we're going to work on all levers to address higher costs, whether that's through cost savings or through price mix. So HMM is always our first defense against inflation, and then we have some transformation, but we have a very strong strategic revenue management toolkit as well. And given this level of inflation, I would assume all levers in that toolkit are on the table, trade, mix, list pricing, et cetera. Christopher Carey: Okay. Okay. The follow-up is the inflation outlook, Kofi, I think you had mentioned inflation would be somewhat similar in fiscal Q1, 2 and 3 and then step up in fiscal Q4. Clearly, you have just nice hedging and good visibility over the course of the first few quarters of the year and then that step up. I mean this is way too early, but it's going to be such a strong year for HMM this year. Can you get ahead of delivering this level of performance as we think more medium term if this inflation is sticky going into out years? And just now that you've reset some price points and value in your portfolio, how do you view -- it's a little bit of a carrying through what Dana just said, but how would you view pricing as a lever if you need that over the next few years as you think about medium-term objectives after the work that you've done over the past 18 months? Kofi Bruce: Yes. So look, obviously, I'm not going to get into guidance for next fiscal year, given we're still in the first quarter of this one. I would tell you, our construct over the long term is still built around HMM being the primary goal work against inflationary pressures. If I just take the last 3 to 4 years, we have running HMM at the high end of the 4% to 5% range. I have every confidence that, that is the range that we would expect to carry with us as we go forward from here. Obviously, anything related to SRM and the combination of price and mix, we would expect to be in the mix of how we manage through the year and, frankly, how we drive growth at the top line. What I can't do is give you a sense of what '28 is going to look like from an SRM perspective other than to just acknowledge what Dana said, which is, we will use all of the tools in our toolkit. And the environment remains, frankly, a little volatile with respect to costs. So it's probably a little early for us to get too deep into the discussion. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Alexia Howard with Bernstein. Alexia Howard: Can I just start with the marketing spend question? You said that the marketing spend was up significantly this quarter. How much is it up year-on-year? How do you expect that to play out over the course of the year? Is it going to stay similarly up for the remaining quarters? Dana McNabb: Alexia, thanks for the question. From a media standpoint, in Q1, we were up modestly in Q1, not significantly. And we are expecting our media spend to be up low single digits throughout the year. But what I'm most excited about when it comes to media is just how we're modernizing our approach to marketing and communications. We have stood up a content studio that's allowing us to make more content faster and at higher quality. We have stepped up our use of influencers to maximize reach and engagement, almost double that, and that will get even more used over the course of the year. We've brought on new creative agencies, and then we're also stepping up our readiness for Agentic and really accelerating in e-commerce. So while media spend is up modestly, I think what is -- what I'm more encouraged by is just the work that we've done in order to show up to consumers in a more relevant way in culture. Alexia Howard: Perfect. Very helpful. And then as a follow-up, this is probably for Kofi. Where are we at with leverage at the moment? I know that your goal is to bring it down to 3x net debt to EBITDA. But will it tick up just because the EBITDA is obviously down year-on-year? And how quickly do we expect that to come down towards that goal level? Kofi Bruce: Yes. I appreciate the question, Alexia. I would expect it will take us on pace with the combination of all the work we're doing on HMM and transformation savings, at least a couple of years to work ourselves back to our target of 3x net debt to EBITDA, setting aside any impact from extraordinary items like, for example, divestitures, which we have in the course of the past couple of years, used to help reduce leverage. So all things equal, we expect to make sequential progress over the next couple of years. I can't give you an exact end date, but just know that in the back of our transformation goals through 2030 is our planned reduction back to target. Alexia Howard: And where are you at the moment? Is it a little over 4? Kofi Bruce: Yes. Yes, just to touch. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Scott Marks with Jefferies. Scott Marks: I wanted to ask first a little bit about the transformation initiatives. I think in the prepared remarks, you called out working with a partner to stand up a new packaging facility to help with some flexibility there. Wondering if you can just give us a little more detail around that as well as share any other plans that you're currently working through and how we should be thinking about the benefits flowing through over the next few years? Dana McNabb: Thanks for the question. I think first, just stepping back, you'll remember in the prepared remarks that we committed to delivering $750 million of cost savings in this fiscal year and $3 billion in total by fiscal '30. And how that breaks out is $2 billion of HMM and $1 billion of transformation. And the way we're thinking about transformation is not just about cutting costs. It's about how do we get our organization to a place that's fit for future growth. Part of that will be reimagining our supply chain, and that's looking at capacity utilization, our manufacturing network, logistics. And part of it is the example that you just called out in terms of what do we need to stand up in order to get at growth faster. And so our way of doing packaging innovation today is quite inefficient. We have just recently signed on a partner, an external partner in order to help us get more packaging innovation more efficiently and effectively and at better pace, and that will allow us to accelerate our growth in e-commerce, where we know the majority of the food growth is going. So we're still very early days. I don't have a lot more detail to share with that, but I really like the approach the team is taking. Scott Marks: Appreciate the thoughts there. Next, I just wanted to ask a little bit about some of the price pack architecture initiatives, specifically in the prepared remarks, you called out innovating cereal around lower entry price points as well as larger tubs and larger formats. Are there any other areas of the business where you've been that active with making those changes? And have you seen similar results as you have with the cereal portfolio in NAR? Dana McNabb: Well, first, thanks for calling out the progress that you've seen in cereal. We're encouraged by the 2-point improvement we saw in Q1. And the team has done a very good job with packaging innovation. We have the cups that allow us to have an opening price point for consumers. We have large sizes. We have bags. We are launching granola in tubs and all of this innovation just allows us to deliver unique benefits that the consumer is willing to pay for. And I would say we've taken that approach across every business. As part of our strategic revenue management plans, what we do is we have to have a minimum 3-year pipeline of ideas with price pack architecture. And so you will see that come in our salty snacks business where we put our snacks in tubs, and that was highly incremental. You will see it come in our Pillsbury business where we know single-family households that don't have a lot of kids are looking for portion sizes to be better, and we've launched unique innovation there. Old El Paso dinner for 2, great innovation there. And so really, I would say the team has applied this strategic principle across every category. It starts first with understanding what the consumer will value and then figuring out how to launch it in a way that maximizes total consumer benefit. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Michael Lavery with Piper Sandler. Michael Lavery: Just wanted to come back to some of the cost side and drill into wheat specifically, obviously, we get your color on how it all rolls up into all the commodities. But how much are higher wheat costs impacting you? How covered are you in terms of maybe how to think about if costs keep going up, when that might become a pain point? And how conservative in your assumptions maybe? And I know in foodservice, there's pass-through pricing for the flour, so maybe how much of a lift from wheat index pricing is there as well? Kofi Bruce: Yes. I appreciate the question. Wheat is a touch higher than our inflation expectations for the year, obviously, as part of the basket of things along with freight and fuel and fats and oils and maybe packaging, where we're seeing that incremental pressure that puts us to the higher end of the range. I would say broadly on our foodservice business, this is a dollar margin neutral exercise where the wheat or the flour that we sell in the market effectively is index priced and changes on a pretty regular basis, roughly weekly to market and was passed through straight just based on the commodity price. So that does have an inflationary impact. It's been about low single-digit headwind in the past year. We'd expect that to be flipped to a tailwind this year in a roughly similar range of low single digits. So that is probably still roughly unchanged, a touch higher, but we were expecting that coming into the year. I would expect, obviously, as we work our way through the year, we are mostly hedged on wheat, just similar to the rest of the commodity complex. We're about 3/4 hedged through the year and have visibility that far out. And obviously, beyond that, then the spot and future prices become a little bit more inflationary in the back end of our year. Michael Lavery: Okay. That's helpful. Just one on the consumer and just how to think about maybe an AI piece of it. There's things like Instacart's AI sort of shopping list creator and Kroger is doing similar things now. It's all quite new. But in terms of just how consumers are making decisions and maybe not even getting to the physical shelf where point-of-sale activation is always important. How do you just think about making sure you don't miss opportunities there or you're kind of on the right side of getting picked by some of these AI-generated shopping lists, for example? Dana McNabb: Well, thanks for the question. It is an important one. I think first, let's start with e-commerce and omnichannel. We know that whether it's human food or pet food, e-commerce is driving the majority of the growth. We see that over 20% of sales in human food and at 30% in pet food, and we expect that to accelerate. And we've really been focused on making sure that we have stood up the organization with the capabilities necessary to win there. And so far in Q1, we saw our e-commerce positions and our improve even faster than bricks-and-mortar. As it relates to Agentic, we are really working hard to stay ahead on that. We know just in this last month alone that 40% of consumers use an AI tool to make a purchase in food. And right now, I mean, who knows, but our early estimates are that Agentic commerce will be about 20% of food sales by 2030. And so it's really about making sure that we are staying ahead on the basics. And that's about making sure that our products are discoverable. It's making sure that the information is accurate and that they're easy to buy. And if we focus on those 3 areas first, we will stay ahead. But again, it is still very early in the Agentic space, and we have lots to learn. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Nick Modi with RBC Capital Markets. Nik Modi: Kofi, maybe I could just do a quick clarification on just the inflation basket. When you think about the ag complex, just given all that's going on with fertilizer costs and this Super El Nino, I just would love your thoughts on kind of how we should be thinking about that or how you're thinking about that over the next kind of 12 to 18 months. I know you're not going to get into full year guidance, but just wanted to get your thoughts on how you see the implications. And then I just have a bigger picture question on pet. Kofi Bruce: Yes. it's a fair ask. Without getting too specific, what I would tell you is fertilizer costs, given where we are in the planting cycle, more likely to be a headwind and affect crop planting decisions as you go into late spring next year, next calendar year. So that would be the place where as farmers are making trade-off decisions about their input costs, they might switch to lower fertilizer-reliant crops such as soybeans and swap out of grains, which obviously, that affects the supply of some of the grain complex, which are more fertilizer reliant. So I would expect that's how it plays out and that you'd start to see that pressure show up maybe with more clarity as we work our way through and into the calendar year next year. Nik Modi: Great. Super helpful. And then, Jeff, Dana, maybe on just pet. There's obviously some macro dynamics going on, people feeling some pressure, vet appointments are down year-over-year. But there's also, I think, some structural dynamics that I'd love to get your thoughts on, which is you have where a lot of the margin is at big dogs, obviously, many of them are passing away, right? And the older consumers that own them are not replacing them and the younger consumer is taking on smaller pets like cats and smaller dogs. So just curious on your thoughts about that just general viewpoint and how you can like manage the business over time to kind of protect margins and capitalize on growth in the smaller segment. Jeffrey Harmening: Yes, Nik, this is Jeff. Let me take that one. I think let me start off by saying that the biggest trend in pet food is the same one that it has been for the last couple of decades, which is humanization, which is why we're really thrilled with the development of Love Made Fresh and how that's worked, why we bought Tiki Cat, and that's grown double digits since we bought it. And again, it's growing strongly this year. We just gained distribution on that one. So that's really taking off. And we even have our treat business back to growth, and we've got a good fall lineup of innovation on that. And so I think the biggest trend as we think about what's going to drive our business forward is this humanization trend. And Dana mentioned briefly some innovation we have on coming on Life Protection Formula in the second half, and that will hit on that trend as well. So we feel great about that. As you say, in the short term, there's a shift in dynamics in that there are fewer dogs being purchased than there were before. And there are smaller dogs rather than larger dogs. And we actually -- Blue Buffalo actually over-indexes to smaller dogs. And so -- we'll see how that plays out, but there are more cats. And certainly, people return back to the office and the economics of cat works out. And we have a strong cat business. As I mentioned Tiki Cat. Dana had referenced Tastefuls earlier that onetime was a headwind for us, but we've kind of redone all the pieces of the Remarkability Framework and got that going again. And so as we think about our pet business, we're encouraged by the start to the year. There is work to do, certainly on Wilderness, so we don't deny that. But we feel as if we've got good offerings, and we see some momentum in places where pet humanization is taking place and where we like our innovation for the second half of the year. Jeff Siemon: I think we have time for one more, Warren. Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Matt (sic) [ Max ] Gumport with BNP Paribas. Max Andrew Gumport: Last year, during the back half of the fiscal year, you observed consumers waiting to buy on promo, which brought along a higher cost to compete. I'm just curious for what the latest is on that front and to what degree that could present an easy comparison to the second half of this fiscal year if you've seen some relief there. Dana McNabb: Yes. Thanks for the question. I think this all stems from the fact that we still see the consumer being very stressed, especially the middle and lower-income consumer. And how that translates into behaviors is, yes, they are still waiting to buy products on sale rather than waiting to buy them on everyday shelf price. We haven't seen that accelerate. We'd say it's pretty similar to what we saw in the back half of last fiscal. And so when we set our guidance for this year, we assumed that, that would continue throughout the fiscal year. Max Andrew Gumport: Okay. Great. And then just a follow-up on pricing. So clearly, last year was all about reducing base prices to get them in a better place. You signaled this year that you'll leave your list prices largely untouched. Obviously, you will leverage to some degree innovation, renovation, price pack architecture and other strategic revenue initiatives to get some positive mix of the business. But plenty of your peers are discussing list price increases that we might see as soon as next month. To what degree are you factoring in potential market share gains that could come as the consumer shifts from businesses where there has been pricing taken to businesses like yours where there are stable list prices? Dana McNabb: Well, as you mentioned, we really focused on improving our base prices last year to bring more value to consumers, and we saw it worked. Our base stabilized, our penetration grew. But as you rightly pointed out, the environment is more inflationary. And so we operate in 25 categories, and each one requires a specific set of actions. So what we do is we use the Remarkability Framework. We'll assess the price value relative to the competition, and we'll continue to adapt as the environment adapts. And that's where as I talked to our strategic revenue management toolkit is really important because we will lean in mix. That's the primary lever we want to use, but also, we'll continue to evaluate both trade and list pricing going forward. Jeffrey Harmening: And I would say just to add on to what Dana said, as we think about the momentum for the rest of the year, as she talked about our continuing momentum, the thing I'm most excited about really is that having got our prices in line is the rest of the elements of the Remarkability Framework, particularly our innovation, renovation on our core. I mean, our Pillsbury business, 70% of it being renovated. We've got really good innovation in the second quarter. We talked about Life Protection Formula and the good innovation we have coming on that as well as distribution increases on Tiki Cat. The marketing on Big G has been phenomenal. I mean, Lucky Charms is back to growth and Reese's Puffs is back to growth and Cinnamon Toast Crunch is back to growth. And that has nothing to do with anything to do with pricing. It has to do with really good marketing and really good product news. And so as I look at the rest of the year, while I'm encouraged by the first quarter, I'm also encouraged by what we're doing on the rest of the elements of the remarkability framework that don't tie back to value. And whether it's more proteins, you talked about, whether there's bold flavors, where it's more fun on certain categories. So that's what got me excited about our ability to compete increasingly effectively as the year goes on. Jeff Siemon: All right. I think that's a good place to end it. Thanks, Max. And Warren, I think we can wrap it up here. Operator: Thank you. We have reached the end of the question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back to Jeff Siemon for closing remarks. Jeff Siemon: All right. Warren, thank you. I appreciate everybody's good interest and discussion this morning. The IR team is available throughout the day for anyone that has follow-ups. We look forward to continuing to show good traction as we go through the rest of the year. Have a great day, everyone. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in General Mills, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and General Mills wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. 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General Mills, Inc. GIS used its fiscal first-quarter 2027 call to emphasize improving North America retail trends, a larger innovation pipeline and disciplined execution after last year's price investments. Adjusted EPS of $0.75 topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.72, while revenues of $4.39 billion exceeded the $4.34 billion estimate. General Mills, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | General Mills, Inc. Quote The key issue was whether better share trends can continue while input costs remain elevated. Executives reaffirmed the full-year outlook, with inflation, pet weakness and a pressured consumer still requiring attention. Chief operating officer (COO) Dana McNabb said North America Retail delivered a 2-point sequential improvement in dollar sales trends, while share performance improved in most categories. A Barclays analyst pressed on the pace of recovery. McNabb said the fiscal second quarter should benefit as General Mills begins lapping prior base-price investments and leans more on product mix, premium innovation and price-pack architecture. The COO highlighted narrower share declines in cereal and soup. Totino's and fruit snacks remain focus areas, with new products, renovation and merchandising aimed at further improvement. McNabb said new products have risen from 3% of net sales to 5% over two years, while the number of launches increased about 50%. A Goldman Sachs analyst asked what was working. The COO cited Honey Nut Cheerios Protein, Blasted Totino's Rolls, La Tiara and Love Made Fresh, with more protein-focused bars and Life Protection Formula innovation planned for the back half. A Piper Sandler analyst also asked about AI-driven shopping. McNabb said General Mills is prioritizing product discoverability, accurate information and ease of purchase as agentic commerce develops, alongside stronger e-commerce capabilities. Chief financial officer (CFO) Kofi Bruce said fiscal first-quarter inflation was near 4%, with fiscal second quarter and third quarter expected to remain similar before moving to about 6% in fiscal fourth quarter. A Wells Fargo analyst asked whether pricing plans were changing. COO McNabb said mix remains the preferred lever, but trade, list pricing and other strategic revenue management tools remain available as costs rise. The CFO said Holistic Margin Management, or HMM, remains the primary defense against inflation. He expects HMM to continue running near the high end of its 4% to 5% range over time. Dana McNabb said dry dog food remains the main pressure point in pet, with Wilderness declines accelerating while Life Protection Formula tracked closer to the category. A TD Cowen analyst asked about the high-single-digit dog food decline. McNabb said Wilderness requires a broader reset across product, packaging, marketing and communication. Chairman and chief executive officer Jeffrey Harmening said pet humanization remains the core strategic theme. He highlighted double-digit Tiki Cat growth since acquisition, improved treats and second-half Life Protection Formula innovation, while acknowledging more work on Wilderness. General Mills reaffirmed fiscal 2027 guidance for organic net sales ranging from down 1.5% to up 0.5%, adjusted operating profit down 13% to down 8% in constant currency, and adjusted EPS of $3 to $3.2. CFO Bruce and COO McNabb reiterated at least $750 million of fiscal 2027 savings from HMM, transformation and other actions, intended to offset input-cost inflation and brand investment. The company also continues to expect the 53rd-week comparison, incentive compensation normalization and divestitures to create year-over-year profit headwinds, keeping productivity and mix central to the outlook. Jeffrey Harmening emphasized that better pricing alignment is only one part of the recovery plan. He pointed to renovation, innovation and marketing as the main tools for improving competitiveness through the rest of fiscal 2027. Dana McNabb likewise focused on continued share improvement rather than declaring a full recovery. Cost inflation, stressed consumers, and category-specific fixes remain active constraints alongside the stronger product pipeline. GIS carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), with a Value Score of B, Growth Score of A, Momentum Score of F and VGM Score of B. In the Zacks Style Score framework, the Value, Growth and VGM readings are favorable, while Momentum is the weakest style signal. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Style Scores are designed to complement the Zacks Rank over the same short-term horizon, with A and B representing stronger grades. The Zacks Rank can change as earnings estimates are revised following the just-reported results. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report General Mills, Inc. (GIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

The J.M. Smucker Co. SJM entered fiscal 2027 with stronger earnings momentum after first-quarter results exceeded expectations and management raised its full-year sales, adjusted earnings and free cash flow outlooks. The next test is durability. Better profitability, lower coffee costs and expanding brands support the earnings case, but companywide sales are still expected to decline and growth remains concentrated in a few businesses. The J. M. Smucker Company revenue-quarterly | The J. M. Smucker Company Quote First-quarter adjusted earnings rose 71% year over year to $3.24 per share, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.21. Net sales increased 5% to $2.22 billion, supported by higher pricing and favorable volume/mix. Tariff refunds also lifted the quarter. SJM received about $115 million of refunds, contributing 84 cents per share to adjusted earnings, making the underlying operating improvement important when assessing earnings durability. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Management lifted fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings guidance to $10.50-$11.00 per share from $9.75-$10.25. The sales outlook improved to a decline of 1%-2% from the prior forecast for a 3%-4% drop. The revised guidance reflects stronger momentum and better sales expectations, but it still assumes roughly flat companywide volume/mix. That keeps the focus on whether growth platforms can offset lower coffee pricing and portfolio weakness. Free cash flow guidance increased to approximately $1.1 billion from $1 billion after first-quarter free cash flow reached $337.3 million. SJM also reduced debt by roughly $230 million during the quarter. Those actions helped the company reach its target of no more than 3.0X net debt to adjusted EBITDA earlier than planned. The stronger cash outlook supports growth investment while leaving room for further debt reduction and shareholder returns. Adjusted gross margin expanded 760 basis points in the first quarter. Excluding tariff refunds, the increase was still 240 basis points, indicating profitability improved beyond the one-time benefit. Lower green coffee costs are expected to support fiscal 2027 cost deflation, although SJM plans to pass some savings to consumers through lower pricing. Higher administrative, marketing and pre-production spending will also limit how much cost relief reaches earnings. Selling, distribution and administrative expenses are projected to rise about 8% in fiscal 2027. Marketing is expected to equal 5.7% of sales, up about $45 million from fiscal 2026, while the second phase of the McCalla, AL, facility is set to support more Uncrustables capacity. General Mills, Inc. GIS reported flat organic net sales in its fiscal 2027 first quarter while continuing to invest in brands and innovation. The Kraft Heinz Company KHC posted a 1.3% decline in second-quarter 2026 organic net sales and raised planned investment spending, showing why brand support must translate into sustainable volume. The bottom line is that Smucker's raised outlook improves the fiscal 2027 earnings setup, but durable growth still requires wider volume participation. Uncrustables and Cafe Bustelo are expanding, while Sweet Baked Snacks and parts of Pet Foods need more consistent improvement. SJM currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), with a Growth Score of A, VGM Score of A, Value Score of B and Momentum Score of F. Favorable growth, composite and value characteristics contrast with weak momentum, leaving execution and broader operating progress central to the stock's near-term profile. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM) : Free Stock Analysis Report General Mills, Inc. (GIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research