Packaged foods company Hormel (NYSE: HRL) fell short of the market’s revenue expectations in Q4 CY2025 as sales only rose 1.3% year on year to $3.03 billion. On the other hand, the company’s outlook for the full year was close to analysts’ estimates with revenue guided to $12.35 billion at the midpoint. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.34 per share was 6.1% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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"We delivered solid first quarter fiscal 2026 results, with adjusted diluted earnings per share1 of $0.34, supported by our fifth consecutive quarter of organic net sales1 growth," said Jeff Ettinger, interim chief executive officer.

Company Overview

Best known for its SPAM brand, Hormel (NYSE: HRL) is a packaged foods company with products that span meat, poultry, shelf-stable foods, and spreads.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul.

With $12.14 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Hormel Foods is one of the larger consumer staples companies and benefits from a well-known brand that influences purchasing decisions. However, its scale is a double-edged sword because it’s harder to find incremental growth when your existing brands have penetrated most of the market. To accelerate sales, Hormel Foods likely needs to optimize its pricing or lean into new products and international expansion.

As you can see below, Hormel Foods struggled to increase demand as its $12.14 billion of sales for the trailing 12 months was close to its revenue three years ago. This is mainly because consumers bought less of its products - we’ll explore what this means in the "Volume Growth" section.

This quarter, Hormel Foods’s revenue grew by 1.3% year on year to $3.03 billion, falling short of Wall Street’s estimates.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 2.7% over the next 12 months. Although this projection implies its newer products will spur better top-line performance, it is still below average for the sector.

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Volume Growth

Revenue growth can be broken down into changes in price and volume (the number of units sold). While both are important, volume is the lifeblood of a successful staples business as there’s a ceiling to what consumers will pay for everyday goods; they can always trade down to non-branded products if the branded versions are too expensive.

Hormel Foods’s average quarterly sales volumes have shrunk by 3.4% over the last two years. This decrease isn’t ideal because the quantity demanded for consumer staples products is typically stable.

In Hormel Foods’s Q4 2026, sales volumes dropped 3.9% year on year. This result represents a further deceleration from its historical levels, showing the business is struggling to move its products.

Key Takeaways from Hormel Foods’s Q4 Results

It was encouraging to see Hormel Foods beat analysts’ gross margin expectations this quarter. We were also glad its EPS outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its revenue slightly missed. Overall, this was a softer quarter. The stock remained flat at $25.38 immediately after reporting.

Is Hormel Foods an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).