Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s leading supplier of fresh eggs, reported a loss for the fourth fiscal quarter and a plunge in the fiscal year’s net income.
Cal-Maine reported a net loss of $4.2 million for the quarter, compared with a net income of $60.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020. Sales were $349.8 million, a 23% drop from the fourth quarter of last year.
For the fiscal year, net income plunged to $2.1 million from $18.4 million in fiscal 2020. The year’s net sales were $1.35 billion, a slight decrease from last year.
The company attributed the figures in part to lower prices for eggs and higher prices for chicken feed. As the pandemic winds down, there isn’t the demand for eggs at retail that was seen in the early stages of the pandemic, said CEO Dolph Baker.
“While retail demand has been strong for most of this fiscal year, that trend began to change in the fourth quarter as consumers started dining out again and preparing fewer meals at home,” Baker said in a statement. He noted that foodservice demand for eggs is starting to pick up, and that Cal-Maine’s business in “specialty eggs,” like organic and cage-free, remains strong.
