About Those Egg Prices: Cal-Maine Foods Reports Record Results

Dec. 29, 2022

Sales and profits were records in the second quarter FY23; volume was up only 5%.

Cal-Maine Foods, the country’s largest producer and distributor of fresh shell eggs, today (Dec. 28) reported record results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023, driven by record egg prices at retail.

For the second quarter of its fiscal 2023 (ended Nov. 28), the company reported sales of $802 million, a 110% increase compared with the same quarter last year. Net income in the period was nearly $199 million, compared to a scant $1.2 million a year earlier. That’s $4.07 per share. All those figures are company records.

Sales and profit were driven by pricing, although volume was up 5%. Which begs the question: Where is the shortage of supply?

“These results reflect the current market environment characterized by record average selling prices for conventional eggs, primarily due to reduced supply related to the outbreak in the U.S. of highly pathogenic avian influenza and good customer demand,” said CEO Sherman Miller.

The company noted the averages selling price of conventional eggs in the quarter was $2.88 per dozen, compared with $1.15 a year earlier. Miller noted that, as of Dec. 28, “There have been no positive tests for the bird flu at any of Cal-Maine’s owned or contracted production facilities.”

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.