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Key Takeaways
- Mondelez volumes dropped on higher prices, and its guidance missed estimates.
- The maker of snack foods warned that its 2024 results could be affected by “geopolitical uncertainty.”
- Fourth-quarter earnings per share and revenue were both above analysts’ forecasts.
Shares of Mondelez International (MDLZ) lost ground Wednesday as the big snack producer’s volumes declined and it gave a weaker-than-expected outlook because of global issues.
The maker of Oreo Cookies and Ritz crackers said it expects full-year organic net revenue to grow 3% to 5%, after being up more than 14% in 2023. The company blamed the lower numbers on “greater than usual volatility as a result of geopolitical uncertainty.”
In its fourth quarter, Mondelez reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.84, with revenue up 7.1% to $9.31 billion. Both exceeded forecasts.
The company noted that the organic sales growth was fueled by higher prices, which dragged down its Volume/Mix by 0.4%. It added that it also benefited from the 2022 acquisition of Ricolino and incremental sales from a short-term distributor agreement.
Mondelez officials told analysts that the company anticipates high-single-digit percentage price hikes this year, mainly because of the soaring price of cocoa.
Mondelez shares were down 0.7% at $75.80 at around 12:30 p.m. ET Wednesday. Despite today’s losses, shares of Mondelez International are nearly 16% higher over the past year.
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