Kraft Heinz to Report Q3 Earnings: Key Factors to Watch Ahead

The Kraft Heinz Company KHC is likely to register declines in the top and bottom lines when it reports third-quarter 2025 earnings on Oct. 29, before the opening bell. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $6.26 billion, indicating a 2% drop from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

The consensus mark for quarterly earnings has been revised downward by one cent in the past seven days to 57 cents per share, projecting a decline of 24% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

KHC has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.1%, on average. In the last reported quarter, the company’s bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a margin of 7.8%.

Factors Likely to Impact KHC’s Upcoming Results

Kraft Heinz has encountered challenges in its volume performance, putting pressure on its top-line growth. The company is navigating shifting consumer preferences and macroeconomic pressures, including tariffs and inflation, as well as softness in the U.S. Away from Home segment. These ongoing obstacles threaten Kraft Heinz’s organic sales, which, in turn, are likely to have weighed on overall revenues in the quarter under review.

Our model suggests a year-over-year decline of 2.8 percentage points in the volume/mix for the third quarter of 2025. As a result, we project a drop of 2.3 percentage points in organic net sales for the same period.

In addition to weak volume trends, Kraft Heinz has also been dealing with margin pressure. The downside can be attributed to unfavorable volume/mix shifts, rising manufacturing and procurement costs, and unfavorable foreign currency impacts. 

Additionally, the company indicated that certain inflationary and promotional costs, initially expected in the second quarter, were shifted into the third quarter, likely to have impacted margins by 30-40 basis points. We expect the company’s adjusted gross margin to contract 140 basis points year over year to 32.9% in the third quarter of 2025.

Kraft Heinz is driving growth through targeted pricing, operational efficiencies and innovation. Its Brand Growth System is gaining momentum, while the company continues to expand in emerging markets.

Earnings Whispers for KHC Stock

Our proven model does not predict an earnings beat for Kraft Heinz this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the chance of an earnings beat, which is not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Kraft Heinz currently has an Earnings ESP of -0.81% and a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell).

Stocks With the Favorable Combination

Here are a few companies, which, according to our model, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.

Vital Farms VITL currently has an Earnings ESP of +8.84% and flaunts a Zacks Rank of 1. The company is likely to register growth in the top line when it reports third-quarter 2025 numbers. The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $191.1 million, which indicates an increase of 31.8% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Vital Farms’ quarterly earnings per share of 29 cents implies an 81.3% rise from the year-ago quarter. The consensus mark has been unchanged in the past 30 days. VITL has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 35.8%, on average.

Hershey HSY has an Earnings ESP of +0.19% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present. HSY is likely to register a bottom-line decline when it releases third-quarter 2025 results. The consensus estimate for Hershey’s quarterly earnings has been risen by 1 cent in the past seven days to $1.08 per share, implying a drop of 53.9% from the year-ago quarter’s number.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues is pegged at $3.12 billion, which implies growth of 4.3% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. HSY delivered an earnings surprise of 8.5%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

Monster Beverage MNST currently has an Earnings ESP of +4.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is expected to register growth in its top and bottom lines when it reports third-quarter 2025 results. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MNST’s quarterly earnings was unchanged in the last 30 days at 48 cents per share, indicating 20% growth from the year-ago quarter's reported number.

The consensus estimate for Monster Beverage’s quarterly revenues is pegged at $2.1 billion, implying a rise of 11.9% from the figure in the prior-year quarter. MNST reported an earnings surprise of 0.2%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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