Hershey (HSY) ended the recent trading session at $197.76, demonstrating a -1.65% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.06%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.17%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw a decrease of 0.06%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the chocolate bar and candy maker had gained 6.86% outpaced the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.35% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.99%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Hershey in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on February 5, 2026. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.4, signifying a 47.96% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $2.98 billion, indicating a 3.34% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6 per share and a revenue of $11.59 billion, representing changes of -35.97% and 0%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Hershey. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.13% higher. As of now, Hershey holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
From a valuation perspective, Hershey is currently exchanging hands at a Forward P/E ratio of 28.94. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.91, which means Hershey is trading at a premium to the group.
The Food - Confectionery industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 8, positioning it in the top 4% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Hershey Company (The) (HSY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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