Global Demand Grows as Prices Fall: Is AVO Playing the Long Game?

Mission Produce, Inc. AVO is navigating a shifting market landscape where global demand for avocados continues to rise even as prices soften. In third-quarter fiscal 2025, the company delivered record revenues of $357.7 million, up 10% year over year, largely fueled by a 10% increase in avocado volumes sold. Yet average per-unit prices declined about 5%, reflecting broader market trends of abundant supply from Peru and Mexico. Despite these pricing pressures, Mission Produce’s performance underscores its strategic agility, leveraging its vertically integrated operations, international reach and deep customer relationships to maintain steady profitability amid industry volatility.

Rather than chasing short-term gains, Mission Produce is focused on long-term resilience through scale, efficiency and diversification. By investing in global sourcing and logistics, the company ensures a reliable year-round supply, a key advantage in a volatile market. Its growing presence in Europe and Asia, along with expansion into mangoes and blueberries, strengthens its position and supports a more balanced, sustainable growth strategy.

Looking ahead, Mission Produce’s strategy hinges on consistency and disciplined execution rather than immediate margin expansion. While global avocado prices may remain under pressure amid rising supply, the company’s investments in productivity, infrastructure and category management position it to thrive in the long term. As global consumers increasingly embrace avocados and other fresh produce as everyday staples, Mission Produce’s vertically integrated platform could enable it to convert market fluctuations into opportunity, solidifying its role as a global leader in premium produce.

AVO Faces Stiff Competition From CTVA & FDP

Corteva, Inc. CTVA and Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. FDP stand out as notable players in the fresh produce and agricultural industry, each leveraging unique strategies to strengthen their market positions.

Corteva continues to solidify its global leadership by integrating cutting-edge seed technologies with sustainable crop protection solutions. In recent quarters, the company has accelerated growth in its biologicals portfolio and digital agriculture tools, empowering farmers to enhance productivity despite climate variability and regulatory challenges. Its disciplined cost management and robust innovation pipeline, featuring advanced seed traits and environmentally friendly crop protection products, are helping to counter input cost pressures and soft commodity markets. Through a blend of research-driven innovation and operational efficiency, Corteva is aligning its strategy with the growing global demand for sustainable and resilient food systems.

Fresh Del Monte is navigating the evolving produce landscape by emphasizing value-added offerings, operational excellence and sustainability-led growth. The company is harnessing automation, renewable energy projects and strategic alliances to improve profitability across its fresh and prepared product lines. Strong momentum in its fresh-cut and convenience segments reflects increasing consumer demand for nutritious, ready-to-eat foods. Despite persistent cost and logistics challenges, Fresh Del Monte’s vertically integrated operations and focus on innovation continue to underpin its margin stability and reinforce its long-term competitiveness within the global fresh food market.

AVO’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of Mission Produce have gained 13.9% in the last six months compared with the industry’s growth of 0.1%.

From a valuation standpoint, AVO trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70X, significantly above the industry’s average of 12.37X.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AVO’s fiscal 2025 and 2026 earnings suggests a year-over-year decline of 9.4% and 28.3%, respectively. The estimates for fiscal 2025 and 2026 have been stable in the past 30 days.

AVO stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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

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