CalMaine Foods, Inc. (CALM – Free Report) reported earnings per share of $4.47 in second-quarter fiscal 2025 (ended Nov. 30, 2024). This represents a significant improvement from earnings of 35 cents in the year-ago quarter, driven by robust demand and elevated egg prices.
Egg prices have been high as supply remains constrained due to the recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (“HPAI”). CalMaine achieved records for total dozens sold and specialty dozens sold in the quarter, with heightened demand leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.
CALM’s results also reflected the contribution from the acquisition of assets of ISE America completed in June 2024.
Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Cal-Maine Foods Stock Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. Quote
CalMaine’s Q2 Top Line Surges on Higher Prices & Eggs Sold
Sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 were $955 million, representing an 82.5% year-over-year surge. The rise was driven by an increased net average selling price of shell eggs and higher total dozens sold.
Net average selling price (per dozen) was $2.74 in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared with $1.73 in the year-ago quarter, marking a 58% jump. The net average selling price per dozen for conventional eggs in the quarter under review soared 102% year over year to $2.943 and the same for specialty eggs rose 4.8% year over year to $2.387 per dozen.
CalMaine produced 288 million dozen eggs in the quarter compared with 265 million in the year-ago quarter. The company sold 329.8 million dozen shell eggs in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, 14% higher than the year-ago quarter. Conventional eggs sold were 209.6 million dozens, up 9% year over year. Specialty egg sales increased 26% year over year to 120.2 million dozens.
Specialty egg sales (in dozens) accounted for 36.5% of total sales in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, up from 33.2% in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.
CALM Witnesses Solid Upside in Margins
Farm production costs per dozen were down 8.5% year over year due to more favorable commodity pricing for key feed ingredients. Feed costs per dozen moved down 12.8% from the second quarter of fiscal 2024. However, to meet the increased demand during the peak season, CalMaine made external egg purchases at higher prices, incurring high costs.
The total cost of sales rose 38.5% year over year to $598.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2025.
Gross profit was around $356 million, a significant improvement from $91 million in the year-ago quarter. The gross margin for the quarter under review was 37.3%, a major expansion from the year-ago quarter’s 17.4%.
Selling, general and administrative expenses were $77.6 million compared with the year-ago quarter’s $76.6 million.
CalMaine reported an operating profit of $278 million in the quarter under review compared with $14 million in the year-ago quarter. The operating margin was 29.1% in the second quarter of fiscal 2025 compared with 2.7% in the second quarter of fiscal 2024.
CalMaine’s Cash Position & Dividend Announcement
CALM ended the second quarter of fiscal 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of roughly $797 million compared with $812 at the end of fiscal 2024.
The company announced that it would pay out a cash dividend of $1.49 per share to holders of its common and Class A common stock. The dividend will be paid out on Feb. 13, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Jan. 29, 2025. Per CALM’s variable dividend policy, whenever the company reports quarterly net income, it allocates one-third of that income as a cash dividend to its shareholders.
Bird Flu Outbreaks Potential Obstacle for CALM Stock
Outbreaks of HPAI continue to occur in U.S. poultry flocks. In 2024, 38.4 million commercial laying hens and 1.8 million pullets had to be depopulated.
In the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2024, CalMaine reported HPAI outbreaks within its facilities located in Kansas and Texas, which led to the total depopulation of 3.1 million laying hens and 577,000 pullets. Both locations have since been cleared by the USDA as fit to resume operations. CALM continues to implement biosecurity programs across its locations.
CalMaine’s Expansion Plans, New Products to Fuel Growth
To capitalize on the solid demand, CALM has made investments to expand operations. It has earmarked $60 million in new capital projects for the expansion of cage-free capacity. This includes $40 million in projects announced in October, including the addition of five cage-free layer houses and two pullet houses across the company’s locations in Florida, Georgia, Utah and Texas. These are expected to add production capacity for 1.1 million cage-free layer hens and 250,000 pullets by late summer 2025.
CALM is also investing $15 million to expand the egg product processing facility in Blackshear, GA, to add extended shelf-life liquid egg products. CalMaine has also been remodeling the assets acquired from Tyson Foods, Inc. (TSN – Free Report) in March 2024 for shell egg production. The assets acquired from Tyson were a broiler processing plant, hatchery and feed mill in Dexter, MO. These are expected to be online in the next fiscal quarter. CalMaine has also been collaborating with local contract growers and has commitments for 1.2 million additional free-range hens by fall 2025. The company is expanding its product portfolio to include value-added egg products.
CALM Stock Price Performance
CalMaine shares have surged 90.4% in the past year against the agriculture products industry’s 1.8% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CALM Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
CalMaine currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks from the basic materials space are Carpenter Technology Corporation (CRS – Free Report) and Fortuna Mining Corp. (FSM – Free Report) . CRS sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present and FSM carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Carpenter Technology has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CRS’s fiscal 2025 earnings is pegged at $6.77 per share, suggesting 42.8% year-over-year growth. Its shares skyrocketed 182.7% in a year.
Fortuna Mining has an average trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 53.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FSM’s 2025 earnings is pegged at 56 cents per share, indicating a 17.7% year-over-year rise. FSM shares have gained 25.4% in the past year.
Financial Market Newsflash
No financial news published today. Check back later.
