Cal-Maine Foods reports Q4 EPS $2.27, consensus $2.15

Reports Q4 revenue $688.7M, consensus $605.4M. Sherman Miller, CEO, stated, “Our fourth quarter performance marked a solid finish to a strong fiscal year for Cal-Maine Foods. Our results for fiscal 2023 reflect the extreme market conditions we faced, with significantly higher average selling prices compared with the prior-year period, primarily due to the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak and higher grain and other input costs. Prices in the fourth quarter have decreased significantly from the fiscal year’s highest levels as the egg industry begins to recover from the effects of HPAI. At the same time, strong consumer demand for shell eggs supported higher sales for the fourth quarter, which included the busy Easter holiday season. Our operations continued to run well in the fourth quarter despite a challenging environment with inflationary pressures affecting our feed and other production costs. Cal-Maine Foods has a proven operating model that has sustained our business throughout various economic cycles, and we remain focused on managing the aspects of our business that we can control. The added challenges of the HPAI outbreak have adversely affected the overall egg supply, and we have continued to navigate through the related disruptions to meet the needs of our valued customers. Cal-Maine Foods has robust biosecurity measures in place across our operations, and we continue to invest in additional resources necessary to reduce risk. We commend our dedicated managers and employees across our operations who have followed strict protocols and efficiently managed our operations under difficult conditions.”