Flowers Foods Misses on Both Lines as Bread Volumes Slide 5.8%
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on August 20, 2026.
Bread demand is cracking: unit volumes fell 5.8%, with Branded Retail names like Nature's Own down 7.6% as shoppers trade down. Management cut full-year guidance to $0.75 to $0.85 in adjusted EPS and is weighing strategic options for Tastykake.
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Flowers Foods reported adjusted diluted EPS of $0.21 for its second quarter of fiscal 2026, missing expectations, with net sales of $1.19 billion also missing expectations.
Branded Retail, the segment anchoring brands like Nature's Own, saw unit volumes fall 7.6% as consumers traded down amid macroeconomic pressure and intensified competition in fresh packaged bread. A favorable price and mix shift softened the blow only partially.
Adjusted EBITDA dropped 19.2% as higher labor and freight costs compounded the volume-driven revenue shortfall. Margins contracted and net income fell year over year.
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Management cut its full-year adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $0.75 to $0.85 and trimmed its net sales outlook. CEO Ryals McMullian acknowledged the environment was "more difficult than we anticipated" while pointing to a relaunch of Nature's Own, now carrying a Non-GMO Project Verified positioning, as an early-stage effort to recapture shelf momentum.
Flowers is also weighing strategic options for its Tastykake brand, a signal that management is reconsidering which assets belong in the core portfolio as it pursues an operational realignment. The earnings call is scheduled for August 21 at 8:30 AM ET, where investors will be listening for any concrete timeline around the Tastykake review and whether volume trends have stabilized early in the back half.
Mentioned: FLO