The Campbell's Company (CPB) is set to serve up its first-quarter earnings before the market opens on Tuesday, December 9, and Wall Street isn't expecting a particularly appetizing report.
Analysts are forecasting quarterly earnings of 73 cents per share, which represents a noticeable slide from the 89 cents per share Campbell's delivered in the same quarter last year. On the revenue front, the consensus estimate sits at $2.66 billion, down from last year's $2.77 billion.
The timing is interesting given some recent turbulence at the company. On November 26, Campbell's announced that Martin Bally, its Vice President of Information Technology, is no longer with the company. The departure followed a lawsuit that brought to light an alleged audio recording of the executive making disparaging and racist comments.
Despite the noise, shares of Campbell's (CPB) climbed 1.5% on Monday, closing at $30.04.
What the Smart Money Is Saying
Looking at how Wall Street's most accurate analysts have been positioning themselves recently, the picture is decidedly mixed. Here's the rundown:
Morgan Stanley analyst Megan Alexander, who has a 68% accuracy rate, maintained an Equal-Weight rating on December 5 but trimmed her price target from $33 to $30. Not exactly a vote of confidence heading into the print.
Wells Fargo analyst Chris Carey (60% accuracy rate) took a more optimistic stance back in September, keeping an Equal-Weight rating while bumping the price target from $32 to $34.
TD Cowen analyst Robert Moskow (64% accuracy) also showed some cautious optimism in early September, maintaining a Hold rating and raising his target from $29 to $31.
Piper Sandler analyst Michael Lavery (66% accuracy) turned more bearish in August, downgrading the stock from Overweight to Neutral and cutting his price target from $35 to $34.
Perhaps most notably, JP Morgan analyst Ken Goldman—who boasts the highest accuracy rate of the bunch at 74%—has maintained a Neutral rating but slashed his price target from $37 to $34 back in June.
The pattern here is pretty clear: even the most accurate analysts tracking Campbell's have been steadily reducing their price targets over the past several months, though most remain neutral rather than outright bearish. Tuesday's earnings report should give us a better sense of whether that caution is warranted or if Campbell's can surprise to the upside.