Why Hormel Stock Is Plummeting Today

Key Points

• Hormel posted a slight sales beat in fiscal Q3, but earnings were weaker than expected.

• The foods giant guided for a significant slowdown for organic sales growth in the current quarter.

• Hormel's earnings guidance also disappointed investors.

• 10 stocks we like better than Hormel Foods ›

Hormel (NYSE: HRL) stock is falling fast in Thursday's trading. The company's share price was down 12.9% as of 2:40 p.m. ET despite relatively little movement for the broader market. The stock had been down as much as 18.3% shortly after stocks started trading today.

Before the market opened this morning, Hormel published results for the third quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, which concluded July 27. While sales for the period beat Wall Street's forecast, the company posted a substantial earnings miss. Management's forward guidance also suggests more headwinds are on the horizon.

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Hormel stock sinks on soft Q2 profit

Hormel recorded non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.35 on sales of $3.03 billion in fiscal Q3. For comparison, the average Wall Street analyst estimate had called for adjusted per-share earnings of $0.41 on revenue of $2.98 billion. Organic sales were up 6% year over year in the period, and total revenue was up 4.5%. Meanwhile the company's earnings per share declined 5.4% compared to the prior-year period. Making matters worse, the foods giant issued disappointing forward guidance.

What's next for Hormel?

For the current quarter, Hormel is guiding for revenue between $3.15 billion and $3.25 billion. For reference, the business posted sales of $3.1 billion in last year's quarter. Meanwhile, organic net sales growth is projected to come in between 1% and 4% -- marking a substantial deceleration from last quarter's growth rate.

The company guided for adjusted earnings per share to be between $0.38 and $0.40 this quarter -- suggesting a dip from last year's per-share profit of $0.42. Along with the disappointing sales outlook, Hormel expects that progression on its profit recovery will lag into next year.

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Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.