Hershey 2Q:26: A beat and raised guidance, but 2H looks to be below consensus forecasts

Research evidence excerpt

Hershey 2Q:26: A beat and raised guidance, but 2H looks to be below consensus forecasts

30 July 2026

Alexia Howard

+1 917 344 8453

U.S. Food alexia.howard@bernsteinsg.com

Hershey Co Cinnie Lin

+1 917 344 8567

Rating cinnie.lin@bernsteinsg.com

Market-Perform

Price Target

HSY 208.00 USD

Hershey 2Q:26: A beat and raised guidance, but 2H looks to be

below consensus forecasts

Hershey delivered a very solid 2Q26 with beats across the board on the top and Close Date 29 Jul 2026

bottom line: Guidance on organic sales growth and adjusted EPS growth was raised to

HSY Close Price (USD) 183.91

the top half of previous guidance. But this still leaves the midpoint of revised adjusted EPS

Price Target (USD) 208.00

guidance around 10% below consensus forecasts for 2H, while sales guidance at the

Upside/(Downside) 13%

midpoint implies around $6.4b in 2H vs. consensus estimates of $6.5b.

52-Week Range 239.48/161.43

There were a number of puts and takes this quarter: Clearly this quarter came in strongly SPX 7,316.15

across the board relative to consensus forecasts. There was also a modest increase in sales FYE Dec

growth expectations for the International segment while the impact of SNAP cutbacks seems Div Yield 3.2%

to be fairly modest. Moreover, the outlook for Halloween seems strong this year and the Market Cap (USD) (M) 37,305

innovation pipeline is strengthening. On the other hand, management pointed to share losses EV (USD) (M) 42,109

in North American confectionery, execution challenges in salty snacks, and some freight cost Performance YTD 1M 6M 12M

pressures. Absolute (%) 1.1 4.8 (5.6) (2.6)

SPX (%) 6.9 (1.7) 5.0 14.8

Nonetheless, the outlook for 2027 still seems robust: Management reiterated that it still Relative (%) (5.8) 6.5 (10.5) (17.4)