Cal-Maine's stock falls as DOJ reportedly weighs bigger crackdown on major egg producers

By Bill Peters

Egg prices crossed the $6 barrier in March of last year, but they have since fallen as farmers have replenished their flocks

Egg prices surged in 2024 and 2025.

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods fell in extended trading Friday after a report that the Justice Department could be close to filing a civil antitrust lawsuit against the major egg producer and some of its rivals.

The report from the Wall Street Journal late Friday comes after higher egg prices last year and in 2024 became emblematic of the cost-of-living increases that have squeezed consumers over the past half-decade. Egg prices surged during those years as a large bird-flu outbreak led producers to cull millions of egg-laying chickens, curbing supplies.

Shares of Cal-Maine (CALM) were down 3.7% after hours Friday, after gaining 0.4% in regular trading. Neither the company nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for comment.

The Journal said the potential lawsuit, which could arrive as early as May, would focus on allegations that large egg producers coordinated egg prices via a service that benchmarks prices based on sales figures.

Companies like Cal-Maine and Versova would be among the lawsuit's targets, the Journal said. However, a decision over the possible litigation hasn't been finalized, and the government and the producers could end up settling, the Journal noted.

Egg prices crossed the $6 barrier in March of last year, but they have since fallen as farmers replenished their flocks. However, the Journal said that the Justice Department has been looking into egg prices since early last year, and that some agency officials observed that prices started falling after the investigation became known.

The higher egg prices sent Cal-Maine's profits and its stock higher, although shares have since retreated from the record highs they reached last year. The stock was down 15.1% over the past 12 months as of Friday's close.

-Bill Peters

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04-17-26 1856ET