Wonder Bread maker Flowers Foods shares fall after hours as forecast disappoints, more people dine out

Shares of Flowers Foods Inc. (FLO) fell after hours on Thursday after the maker of Wonder Bread and Dave's Killer Bread forecast full-year sales that were below Wall Street's expectations, citing a "slow start to the year" and "softer category demand" following a quarter in which consumers dined out more regularly. The company said it expected fiscal 2023 sales of between $5.086 billion and $5.141 billion, below FactSet estimates for $5.18 billion. Shares fell 4.7% in after-hours trade. For its first quarter, the company reported net income of $70.7 million, or 33 cents a share, compared with $85.6 million, or 40 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue rose to $1.53 billion, helped by price increases, compared with $1.44 billion in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted for acquisition-related costs, restructuring charges and "business process improvement" costs, Flowers reported 38 cents a share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, on revenue of $1.55 billion. The company said it planned to launch more products outside of bread to stoke greater demand.

-Bill Peters

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05-18-23 2000ET

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