Conagra Brands Inc. shares jumped more than +11% Thursday, as the packaged food company reported better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter.
For the three months ended February 24, Conagra generated earnings of 51 cents per share, beating analysts’ estimates of 49 cents per share. What helped boost earnings was an increase in Conagra's product prices as the company sought to offset higher transportation and commodity costs.
The company's revenue surged +35.7% year-over-year to $2.71 billion in the quarter. However, it fell short of analysts’ estimates of $2.75 billion. There was a +2.9% increase in net sales to $863 million for Conagra’s grocery and snacks segment. Net sales from its refrigerated and frozen segment rose +3.3% to $711 million. Conagra’s international net sales declined -11.4% year-over-year to $198 million.
Conagra acquired Pinnacle Foods in 2018. CEO Sean Connolly indicated recently that while it might take a while to see a complete turnaround against the executional challenges in certain Pinnacle brands such as the Birds Eye, Duncan Hines and Wish-Bone, Conagra has a plan in place for improving these products' performances and therefore making a successful integration of Pinnacle into the company .