Hershey (HSY) Q3 2026: EPS Tops Expectations, Guidance Raised
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on October 29, 2026.
Hershey raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $8.58 to $8.74 after a fifth straight quarter of topping estimates, helped by tariff refunds and lower commodity costs. The catch: roughly 10 points of volume declines nearly erased 11 points of price realization.
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Hershey's third quarter marked its fifth consecutive quarter of topping Wall Street's earnings expectations, with adjusted EPS of $2.64 beating expectations. Revenue also came in above estimates and grew roughly 3% year over year.
Gross margin expanded to 46.1% from 32.6% a year earlier, lifted by tariff refunds, lower net commodity costs, and pre-tax derivative mark-to-market gains. Those tailwinds did the heavy lifting on the income statement even as underlying volume trends remained a concern.
About 11 points of net price realization in the quarter were nearly canceled out by roughly 10 points of volume declines, leaving top-line growth thin and hard-won. The North America Confectionery segment, the company's largest, grew just 1.6%, while the International segment contracted.
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The brightest spot was North America Salty Snacks, where revenue jumped 22.3%, boosted in part by the LesserEvil acquisition. Advertising and related consumer marketing spending rose in the quarter, with double-digit increases in both North American segments, signaling that management is investing to arrest the volume slide.
On the strength of the quarter, Hershey raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $8.58 to $8.74, above prior guidance. Full-year net sales growth was narrowed to approximately 5%, and the company excluded future tariff refunds from that updated outlook, so any additional refunds represent upside not yet reflected in guidance.