Campbell Soup Co CPB

Campbell’s torrid pace of gains since the pandemic took hold came to a screeching halt in the third quarter. Organic sales slumped a whopping 12% (though this came on top of 17% growth in the year-ago period), while adjusted gross and operating margins contracted to the tune of 290 basis points to 31.8% and 14.3%, respectively. In light of the rash of challenges plaguing its operations (stemming from inflation, stepped up competition, and executional challenges as it integrates Snyder’s-Lance) and with just two months left in its fiscal year, management revised its full-year expectations, which now call for a 3.5%-3.0% pullback in reported sales (from a 3.5%-2.5% decline prior) and adjusted EPS of 2.90-$2.93 (from $3.03-$3.11).