Cal-Maine Foods Stock Climbs on Strong Earnings, Thanks to Higher Egg Prices | Global News Avenue

Carl-Maine Foods (calm) shares rose on Wednesday, a day after the largest U.S. egg producer beat profit and sales estimates on higher prices, holiday season demand and acquisitions.

The company reported second-quarter earnings per share of $4.47, with revenue up 82.5% year-over-year. to US$954.7 million, both well above expectations.

The price increases came as the average price of a dozen eggs surged 58.4% to $2.74, while the number of dozen eggs sold climbed 14.5% to 329,844.

CEO Sherman Miller said demand for eggs was “strong,” resulting in “significant increases in dozens of eggs sold during the quarter, including seasonal increases leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday and our June Sales of Latest Acquisitions Completed”. At that time, Cal-Maine completed the acquisition of ISE America’s production assets.

Miller also noted the impact of the U.S. avian influenza outbreak, noting that egg prices “continue to rise this fiscal year as supply levels of shell eggs are constrained by recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (‘HPAI’).”

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods were up more than 2% in intraday trading Wednesday, with its value nearly doubling in the past year.