Cal-Maine Foods reported a net loss attributable to the company of $58.6 million, or $1.26 per diluted share, on consolidated net sales of $539.6 million for its first fiscal quarter, as an oversupplied conventional egg market kept wholesale prices under pressure. Chief Executive Sherman Miller said the conventional egg market remains oversupplied, and the company posted an operating loss of $82.2 million with a negative 15.2% operating margin. Within the quarter, Conventional Shell Eggs generated net sales of $201.7 million and a segment operating loss of $71 million, Specialty Shell Eggs generated net sales of $236.9 million and segment operating income of $14.9 million, and Prepared Foods generated net sales of $63 million and segment operating income of $7.8 million. Miller said Cal-Maine expects Prepared Foods production capacity to increase by more than 60% by the first half of fiscal 2028 compared with the end of fiscal 2026, supported by a high-speed pancake line adding roughly 12 million pounds of annual capacity through early fiscal 2027, a network optimization and expansion project adding about 17 million pounds of annual scrambled egg capacity through fiscal 2027, and its Crepini investment adding approximately 18 million pounds progressively through fiscal 2028. Chief Financial Officer Max Bowman said the company ended the quarter with $767.6 million in cash and temporary cash investments and remains virtually debt-free, while noting that no cash dividend will be paid until Cal-Maine is profitable on a cumulative basis, with a cumulative loss of $94.5 million to be recovered at the end of the first quarter.
Cal-Maine Foods IncConventional egg market remains oversupplied, pressuring wholesale prices and driving a $58.6M quarterly loss.
Cal-Maine's Crepini investment is expected to add ~18M pounds of Prepared Foods capacity through fiscal 2028.
