Start here if you're new
what it is
Cal-Maine sells shell eggs to grocery chains and food buyers, then pays you a variable dividend when egg prices spike.
how it gets paid
Last year Cal-Maine Foods made $4.3B in revenue. conventional shell eggs was the main engine at $2.33B, or 54% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 83.2% last year. We think that fiscal 2026 second-quarter results will likely be weaker than our earlier forecasts after management announced a new $15 million network optimization and.
what just happened
Latest quarter revenue hit $1.7B and EPS reached $6.26 as egg economics stayed unusually strong.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
15/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
3.3x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
4.0% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
8.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 66/100 — average
What they do
Cal-Maine sells shell eggs to grocery chains and food buyers, then pays you a variable dividend when egg prices spike.
Scale matters here. Cal-Maine runs a 59.8 million-bird flock and produces 94.3% of its own annual egg volume, so you are backing the biggest domestic shell egg machine in the country. Specialty eggs are 40.0% of volume, which means the company is not just selling eggs, it is selling the pricier shelf space your grocery store keeps restocking.
How they make money
$4.3B
annual revenue · their business grew +83.2% last year
conventional shell eggs
$2.33B
specialty value-added eggs
$1.47B
prepared foods
$0.25B
externally sourced eggs
$0.25B
The products that matter
produces and sells shell eggs
Shell Eggs
$4.3B revenue
this is the whole $4.3B story today. your thesis rises and falls with egg pricing, volume, and shelf space because the revenue table gives you no second engine.
the core business
capacity and mix expansion
Prepared Foods Push
$15M project announced dec. 3
management announced a $15M network optimization and capacity expansion project, but this snapshot still shows no separate revenue breakout for prepared foods. in human-speak: management is trying to widen the story, and the numbers still say eggs.
small but worth watching
Key numbers
3.3x
trailing p/e
You are paying 3.3 times trailing earnings for the largest U.S. shell egg producer. That is cheap even by cyclical stock standards.
36.1%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit left after running the business → so what: egg pricing got so strong that a grocery staple printed tech-stock margins.
$4.3B
ttm revenue
Sales hit $4.3B, up 83.2% in the annual filing. The absurd part is that this came from eggs, not software.
4.0%
dividend yield
You are being paid while you wait, though this payout moves with profits and profits move with egg prices.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- net profit margin 7.7% — keeps 8 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 8% — $0.08 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in CALM 3 years ago → it's now worth $19,150.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Latest quarter revenue hit $1.7B and EPS reached $6.26 as egg economics stayed unusually strong.
Gross margin was 30.7%, which is huge for a basic food product. The bigger story is contrast: annual revenue was $4.3B, but now sees fiscal 2026 revenue closer to $3.36B.
$1.7B
revenue
$6.26
eps
30.7%
gross margin
the number that mattered
30.7% gross margin matters because gross margin → money left after making the product → so what: even a small drop can crush earnings when the cycle turns.
-
cal-maine foods’ shares continued to slip since our october review.we think that fiscal 2026 second-quarter results will likely be weaker than our earlier forecasts after management announced a new $15 million network optimization and capacity expansion project on december 3rd. (note: results were due to be released as we went to press with this issue.) the prepared food segment should continue to evolve and strengthen.
-
the specialty eggs and prepared foods businesses combined accounted for almost 40% of total sales in the record first quarter and represent the company’s primary growth engines.management’s recently expanded plans to strengthen the prepared foods unit are expected to shift revenues toward higher-value, consumerdriven categories. the wholly-owned subsidiary echo lake foods (which produces ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook egg-based products) is set for some restructuring efforts. the company plans to consolidate its scrambled eggs manufacturing network into a single modernized facility while expanding capacity with a new production line to support near-term demand.
-
the initiative also includes upgrading equipment and increasing automation in order to boost throughput, reduce costs, and deliver and grow production capacity by more than 30% over the next 18 to 24 months.what’s more, this move builds on previously announced expansion projects, such as the $14.8 million investment in increasing capacity across the high-speed pancake line, as well as a $7 million expansion project through its joint venture with crepini which are expected to materialize through fiscal 2026.
-
we have lowered our fiscal 2026 sales and share earnings calls by $325 million and $3.35, to $3.36 billion and $9.80, respectively.greater investment spending and temporary production disruptions ought to weigh on volumes and operations in the near term. these transitory costs are likely to pressure margins before the benefits begin to bear fruit in the long haul.
-
the stock (timeliness: 2) may appeal to momentum accounts.
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the risk stack is unusually concentrated: one product, one pricing story, and one active legal overhang all sit on the same earnings base.
med
doj scrutiny hits the pricing story
CALM is already cooperating with a justice department probe into industry cooperation. if that turns into a broader challenge to how pricing worked across the egg market, the stock does not get the benefit of the doubt just because 3.3x looks cheap.
the pressure lands on the same profit base supporting the multiple, the dividend, and the valuation case.
med
one product means one cycle
100% of the revenue line on this page comes back to eggs. if egg pricing normalizes faster than volumes improve, revenue and dividend support weaken together. there is no segment cushion in the numbers shown here.
a company with $4.3B in annual revenue still behaves like a single-market story when every dollar depends on the same category.
med
the expansion spend arrives as earnings cool
management announced a $15M optimization and capacity project while quarterly estimates point to $0.8B revenue and $1.27 EPS, both down sharply from a year ago. spending into a softer comparison period is either foresight or bad timing.
if revenue stays near $0.8B and gross margin falls below 27.0%, the market stops treating CALM as misunderstood and starts treating it as correctly discounted.
between the probe, the single-product model, and softer near-term estimates, the whole thesis still rests on whether egg profits hold up better than the market expects.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
the justice department angle
if new disclosures make the probe sound broader or more aggressive, the valuation discount does not close just because the p/e is low.
metric
gross margin vs. the 27.0% mark
that was the number that mattered in the latest setup. it tells you whether profits are normalizing or cracking.
calendar
the next earnings release
watch whether the projected $1.27 EPS and $0.8B revenue hold up. if they miss, the low multiple loses its easiest defense.
trend
whether prepared foods becomes visible in the numbers
the story improves if the business starts showing something other than eggs. right now, the data still says single-product company.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — in human-speak, analysts think CALM can outperform most stocks over the next year.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this is not a bunker stock, but it is not a balance-sheet disaster either.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — traders still see relative strength even after the recent slide.
earnings predictability
15 / 100
low predictability — you are signing up for quarterly swings, not smooth compounding.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 261 buyers vs. 189 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 44.4M shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$66
$137
$82
current price
$102
target midpoint · +24% from current · 3-5yr high: $110 (+35% · 11% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive