Food Producers and Retailers Heat Check – Investor Sentiment and Our Updated Views on Our Entire Coverage

Research evidence excerpt

Food Producers and Retailers Heat Check – Investor Sentiment and Our Updated Views on Our Entire Coverage

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

21 May 2026

Food Producers and Retailers

Heat Check – Investor Sentiment and Our Updated

Views on Our Entire Coverage

It’s that time of the year. Summer is fast approaching and the NBA and NHL Food Producers & Retailers

ACplayoffs are well underway – things are heating up. In this note, we check the Thomas Palmer, CFA

temperature for each of the stocks in our food producers and retailers coverage, (1-212) 622-5582

which now spans packaged food, protein, ag products, grocers, and convenience thomas.palmer@jpmorgan.com

stores. We address both investor sentiment and our current views. Across our Brandon Cohen, CPA

coverage, our top picks are MDLZ, BG, and POST. (1-212) 622-4168

brandon.cohen@jpmorgan.com

• It has been an active few months for the group. Five companies in our Elsa H Evans

coverage have hosted recent investor/sell-side days (ATD CN, BG, DAR, (1-212) 622-4922

FRPT, HSY), with another one next month (CASY). Management changes elsa.evans@jpmchase.com

have become increasingly common, especially in packaged food, which has J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

seen five CEO changes in 2026 to date (BRBR, CAG, KHC, POST, SMPL),

along with COO/president appointments at companies that do not traditionally

have the position filled (HRL, GIS, MDLZ, TSN). The conflict in the Middle

East could have wide-ranging impacts for our coverage, with c-stores starting

to benefit from higher fuel margins, ag products companies quickly seeing

higher biofuels margins, food retailers potentially benefiting from higher rates

of inflation (which can boost sales and operating leverage), and food producers