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what it is
Conagra sells the freezer aisle, snack shelf, and pantry brands you buy when dinner needs to happen fast.
how it gets paid
Last fiscal year Conagra Brands made about $11.6B in net sales. grocery & snacks was the largest segment at about $4.9B, or roughly 42% of sales.
why growth slowed
Reported net sales fell 3.6% last fiscal year. Organic net sales fell about 2.9%, which matters because lower volumes can eventually overwhelm cost cuts and pricing.
what just happened
Conagra posted adjusted EPS of $0.45 for fiscal Q2 2026, slightly above the roughly $0.44 consensus, while net sales missed expectations and kept sliding vs. prior year.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
85/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
7.6x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
~9.0% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
7.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 54/100 — below average
What they do
Conagra sells the freezer aisle, snack shelf, and pantry brands you buy when dinner needs to happen fast.
Conagra wins because your grocery store already gave it the shelf space, and shelf space is distribution (getting products in stores) → access → you keep seeing the brands. It sells Birds Eye, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Duncan Hines, and Reddi-wip across channels, producing about $11.6 billion in annual net sales. That scale helps when retailers squeeze suppliers, even if it does not make Conagra untouchable.
How they make money
$11.6B
annual net sales (fiscal 2025) · reported sales fell 3.6% vs. prior year
grocery & snacks
$4.9B
−1.2%
refrigerated & frozen
$4.7B
−4.2%
foodservice
$1.1B
−4.7%
international
$1.0B
−11.3%
The products that matter
branded packaged food manufacturing
Packaged Foods Portfolio
$11.6B net sales · ~3.6% reported decline (FY2025)
it's the whole company: about $11.6B in annual net sales, reported sales down roughly 3.6% in fiscal 2025, with organic net sales down about 3% on the year. the bet is not one hero brand. the bet is whether the portfolio can hold shelf space without giving up margin.
~3% organic decline (FY2025)
Key numbers
7.6x
trailing p/e
P/E → stock price divided by earnings → so what: you are paying a bargain multiple because the market expects ugly earnings.
9.0%
dividend yield
Dividend yield → cash payout as a percent of share price → so what: the income looks huge, but huge yields often mean the market smells risk.
$6.5B
long-term debt
Debt → money the company owes → so what: Conagra owes almost as much as its entire equity market value, which narrows the margin for error.
11.8%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → so what: reported FY2025 GAAP operating margin was about 12%, which still throws off cash—but it compresses when sales and mix weaken.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 100 / 100
- long-term debt $6.5B (43% of capital)
- net profit margin 8.9% — keeps 9 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 10% — $0.10 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — risk rank looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CAG 3 years ago → it's now worth $5,250.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
mixed vs. estimates
Conagra posted adjusted EPS of $0.45, slightly above the ~$0.44 consensus, while net sales missed and kept sliding.
Fiscal Q2 2026 (ended Nov. 23, 2025) was weak on the top line: organic net sales fell 3.0%, and reported net sales were about $2.98B ($3.0B rounded), down 6.8% vs. prior year.
$2.98B
net sales
$0.45
eps
23.4%
gross margin
the number that mattered
Organic net sales fell 3.0%, which matters because lower volumes can eventually overwhelm cost cuts and pricing.
-
conagra brands posted weak fiscal 2026 second-quarter (ended november 23rd) results.specifically, the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.45, which excluded a non-cash goodwill and brand impairment charge of $1.84.
-
that result slightly beat the roughly $0.44 street consensus (revenue was a touch light vs. expectations) and was down sharply from the prior-year adjusted quarter.
-
a few factors contributed to the shortfall, mostly continued top-line erosion.
-
organic sales, excluding acquisitions and divestitures for comparison purposes, declined 3%, with the company witnessing volume declines in all four of its operating segments.price hikes taken in recent years to combat inflation led many customers to look for cheaper-priced private-label alternatives. the elastic nature of the company’s more-mature product lines made the decision for some customers quite easy. in addition, input costs still remain elevated, which has hurt conagra’s operating margin and profit growth.
-
we are again lowering our fiscal 2026 earnings-per-share estimate, this time by a nickel, to $1.75.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top risk is private-label trade-down and volume erosion in packaged foods.
med
shoppers keep trading down
organic sales already fell 3%, and volume declined in all four operating segments. if that keeps going, the brand portfolio stops acting like a moat and starts acting like overhead.
this pressure sits under the full $11.6B revenue base.
med
$6.5B of debt limits the margin for error
long-term debt equals 43% of capital. that is manageable in a steady staples business. it gets louder when sales are shrinking and the stock already yields about 9.0%.
you are carrying leverage on top of a business earning 7.0% on capital.
med
another impairment would say the portfolio is weaker than it looks
the recent quarter included a $1.84 non-cash goodwill and brand impairment charge. accounting charges do not use cash, but they do say management thinks part of the asset base is worth less than before.
that matters because branded food companies live on the value of their brands.
the combined risk picture is plain: a ~3% organic sales decline on the latest quarter, net margins in the high single digits, and $6.5B in debt leave less room for a staples stock to disappoint.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next earnings report
you are looking for one sentence first: did organic sales improve from the current 3% decline.
metric
volume versus price
price can hold revenue for a while. volume tells you whether shoppers still want the brands at those price points.
risk
dividend and debt tension
a ~9.0% yield looks generous. if operating pressure deepens, that yield stops feeling like a gift and starts feeling like a question.
trend
private-label pressure
if management keeps blaming value-seeking shoppers, you want proof the trade-down wave is slowing rather than spreading.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
below average
momentum score 4 — in human-speak, analysts do not expect this to lead the market in the next 6–12 months.
balance-sheet risk
lower than most
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks, even with the debt load.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the tape still says sellers have the cleaner argument.
earnings predictability
85 / 100
the business is easier to model than most. that helps, but predictable decline is still decline.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
374 buyers vs. 422 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.4B shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$15
$24
$16
current price (rounded)
$20
target midpoint · +15% from current · 3-5yr high: $25 (+45% · 16% ann'l return)
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