Dive Brief:
- Hershey Co. said its profit rose 5.4% in the most recent quarter to $168.2 million. Global sales climbed 4.6% to $1.58 billion, slightly lower than Wall Street's forecast of $1.59 billion.
- The nation's biggest chocolate company said its costs also rose in the quarter, and it restated its plans to boost prices by about 8% to cover those rising expenses.
- Hershey last week lowered its earnings guidance for the rest of the year, suggesting the price hike will hurt sales over the short term.
Dive Insight:
One of the more interesting takeaways from Hershey's earnings is that company posted a sales increase despite a 5% reduction in advertising. That follows a 3% reduction in the prior quarter.
Analysts questioned the wisdom of such cuts during the company's conference call Thursday. Our guess is that people up and down Madison Avenue are questioning it too.