Flowers Foods cuts EPS forecast to $0.63–$0.68 after profit falls 63.6%

Key Facts

Flowers Foods reported third-quarter results on November 12 for the 12 weeks ended October 10, 2026, with net income down 63.6% to $14.4 million. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.07, down $0.12 from the year-earlier period, while adjusted diluted EPS was $0.10, down $0.13. The adjusted figure came in below the Zacks consensus estimate of $0.15 per share. The comparison with the estimate therefore applies to adjusted earnings, while $0.07 remains the GAAP figure. The company reported the results amid contracting sales and declining volume, and lowered its full-year earnings and sales forecasts.

Net sales were $1.169 billion, down 4.7% from the year-earlier period. Price mix rose 2.3%, but sales volume fell 7.0%, indicating that pricing did not offset the contraction in units sold. In the third quarter of 2025, sales rose 3.0% to $1.227 billion, supported by the contribution from the Simple Mills acquisition, which at the time more than offset the effects of declines in price mix and volume. The comparison highlights a shift from sales growth in the year-earlier period to contraction in the current quarter, with volumes falling in both reported year-over-year periods. The company said household budget pressures, changing consumer behavior and heightened promotional activity created a difficult operating environment.

Weaker activity also weighed on operating profitability: adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 33.2% to $78.9 million, or 6.8% of net sales. Flowers Foods attributed the pressure mainly to lower sales volume, higher marketing spending, increased logistics costs and greater external purchases of products. It said lower employee incentives, ingredient costs and distribution fees partly offset those factors. In branded retail, sales fell 5.1% to $772.1 million, as price mix rose 3.5% while volume declined 8.6%. Sales in the Other segment fell 4.0% to $397.0 million, with volume down 4.9% and price mix up 0.9%.

The chief executive said the company sees encouraging signs of sequential improvement in Nature’s Own trends, but the pace of improvement was slower than expected, particularly in the bread loaf category. Management said it would accelerate efforts to improve sales execution with customers, close innovation gaps and align its product portfolio with changing consumer preferences. This comes as volume declined in both total sales and the branded retail segment, despite higher price mix in both. These indicators keep the challenge of restoring unit sales in focus for the company’s plan, alongside addressing the marketing and logistics pressures it cited as reasons for lower profitability. The company did not provide a specific timeline for when the announced measures would have an effect.

The company lowered its 2026 adjusted diluted EPS forecast to $0.63–$0.68, from a previous range of $0.75–$0.85. It also cut its annual net sales forecast to about $5.016–$5.063 billion, compared with a previous estimate of $5.070–$5.142 billion. It also reduced its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization forecast to $415–$430 million, from $453–$481 million previously. The revisions reflect lower company estimates for both earnings and sales after third-quarter sales and volumes declined. A live results question-and-answer webcast was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern time on November 13, 2026.

Flowers Foods shares, listed under the ticker FLO, closed at $6.25 on November 11, 2026, the day before the results announcement. That closing price places the stock’s movement in context ahead of the release of third-quarter figures on November 12 and does not represent a market reaction after the announcement. No further details on post-release share performance were included in the available information. The earnings figures are best understood by distinguishing GAAP diluted earnings from the adjusted earnings Zacks compared with its consensus estimate. Markets were awaiting management’s comments in the question-and-answer webcast scheduled for the day after the announcement.