General Mills cuts guidance on slowing demand for snacks

(Sharecast News) - Cheerios-owner General Mills cut its full-year outlook on Wednesday, on waning demand for snacks in the US and mounting economic uncertainty. The American owner of Pillsbury, Haagen-Dazs and Betty Crocker, among others, saw third-quarter net sales fall 5% to $4.8bn. Organic sales also slid 5%.

Operating profits softened 2% at $891m, while adjusted diluted earnings per share lost 15% at $1.00.

The firm said the results were below expectations, driven largely by greater-than-anticipated retailer inventory headwinds - especially in the North America retail and North America pet units - and a slowdown in snacking categories.

General Mills added that the macroeconomic uncertainty would likely continue to impact consumers in the fourth quarter, and as a result, now expects full-year organic net sales to be down year-on-year.

Having previously forecast growth in the range of flat to 1%, the Minneapolis-based business now expects sales to fall between 2% and 1.5%.

The adjusted diluted EPS forecast was also cut to between 8% and 7% lower year-on-year, a sharper decline that the 4% to 2% range initially predicted.

As at 1245 GMT, the stock had lost 4% in pre-market trading.

Jeff Harmening, chief executive, said: "We're focused on improving our sales growth in fiscal 2026 by stepping up investment in innovation, brand communication and value for consumers.

"We're fund that investment with another year of industry-leading HMM (holistic margin management) activity, coupled with expected cost-savings initiatives designed to further boost our efficiency and enable growth."