Hershey Prudently Pursuing Multiple Tactics to Combat Cocoa Inflation and Looming Tariffs

We applaud the strategic focus CEO Michele Buck has brought to bear over the past eight years--ramping up investments in Hershey's core domestic brands while pulling back in its international arm (high-single-digit percentage of total sales, where we surmise its competitive position has perpetually lagged its global peers). And while cash-constrained consumers’ hankering for confections may sour near term (given the product's more discretionary nature), we don’t think Hershey’s leading position (with more than one-third share of the US chocolate aisle versus just low-single-digit marks for lower-priced private-label offerings) has been tarnished.