Shares of Conagra Brands Inc. CAG, -1.01% edged up 0.1% in premarket trading Thursday, after the food company, which brands include Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim and Reddi-wip, reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectations. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 28 increased to $281.4 million, or 58 cents a share, from $204.4 million, or 42 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 59 cents topped the FactSet consensus of 58 cents. Sales rose 8.5% to $2.77 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $2.72 billion. Within Conagra’s business segments, refrigerated and frozen sales grew 11.7% to $1.20 billion, beating the FactSet consensus of $1.16 billion; grocery and snacks sales increased 10.8% to $1.13 billion, compared with expectations of $1.12 billion; and foodservice sales dropped 17.2% to $194.0, as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lower restaurant traffic, but was above expectations of $188.2 million. For the fiscal fourth quarter, adjusted EPS is expected to be 49 cents to 55 cents, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 51 cents. The stock has gained 2.7% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.15% has advanced 8.6%.
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