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Investing.com – Campbell stock (NYSE:CPB) rose 1.2% after its second-quarter sales and earnings beat estimates and the company’s board approved another $500 million share repurchase program.
The latest share buyback plan has no expiration date and is in addition to the $250 million program announced in the previous quarter.
Fourth-quarter net sales decreased 11% to $1.87 billion but traders took comfort in the fact that sales were higher than the comparable 2019 quarter levels by 5%. Last year was an exception as people stayed indoors due to lockdowns and at-home consumption boomed.
Sales of meals and beverages fell 16% and those of snacks decreased 6%.
Organic net sales eroded by 4% from last year but rose 9% compared to the 2019 period. The decline versus the prior year was driven by a 5% decrease in volume and mix primarily as a result of cycling both the elevated demand in food purchases for at-home consumption and the partial retailer inventory recovery in the prior year, the company said.
Organic net sales exclude the impact from the additional week in the same quarter last year and the impact from the sale of the Plum baby food and snacks business, the company said.
The company saved $25 million during the quarter under its multi-year cost savings program.
Adjusted earnings per share decreased by 8 cents to 55 cents.
For the ongoing financial year, Campbell expects sales to stay flat or fall by up to 2% from 2021’s $8.47 billion. Organic net sales growth is seen between minus 1% and 1%.
