Hershey Co. continued to enjoy good results attributable to the pandemic in its most recent quarter, but its CEO warned that the growth probably won’t last at its current rate.
In its second fiscal quarter, Hershey increased net sales to $1.99 billion, a 17% increase compared with the second quarter of 2020. Net income rose 12% to $301.2 million. Hershey has updated its estimated net sales growth for the full year to a rate of 6% to 8%, up from previous guidance of 4% to 6%.
“Our market share remains well above pre-COVID-19 levels,” CEO Michele Buck said in an analyst conference call to discuss the results. Buck claimed that Hershey’s market share rose 1.3% in confectionery and 2% in snacks.
Buck, however, sounded a cautionary note for the future: “As we enter the second half of the year and begin lapping our strongest performance from a year ago, we do expect sales growth to moderate. We will be closely monitoring consumer behavior to evaluate the sustainability of recent gains and implications to our performance in 2022 and beyond.”
Buck singled out several high-performing Hershey products, including Reese’s, which grew 10% in retail sales in the quarter; Twizzlers, up 2%; and SkinnyPop, up more than 25%. She also noted that “Net sales in our food service and specialty retail channels grew 40%, recovering most of last year’s losses.”
