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what it is
General Mills makes cereal, snacks, pet food, and other grocery staples sold in stores.
how it gets paid
Last year General Mills made $19.5B in revenue. joint ventures): North America Retail was the main engine at $11.9B, or 61% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 327.7% last year. The $9.4B revenue figure matters because it is the biggest line item.
what just happened
General Mills posted $9.4B in revenue and $3.00 EPS in the latest quarter.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
100/100 earnings predictability — you can trust these numbers
11.1x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
5.2% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
11.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 63/100 — average
What they do
General Mills makes cereal, snacks, pet food, and other grocery staples sold in stores.
You buy the same brands every week, and that is the trick. North America Retail is 61% of sales, while Pet is 13%. That 48-point gap means the pantry matters more than the pet aisle, but both keep the logos in front of you. The company has about 33,000 employees and brands like Cheerios, Blue Buffalo, and Häagen-Dazs.
How they make money
$19.5B
annual revenue · their business grew +327.7% last year
joint ventures): North America Retail
$11.9B
International
$2.7B
North America Foodservice
$2.3B
other
$2.5B
The products that matter
manufactures and sells packaged foods
Packaged Food Brands
$19.5B revenue · 10.7% net margin
it's the entire $19.5B business, and it still keeps about 11 cents of every sales dollar as profit. that matters because a low-growth staples stock lives or dies on margin discipline.
entire business
Key numbers
11.1x
trailing P/E
You are paying 11.1 times trailing earnings. That is 11 dollars of price for every 1 dollar of profit.
5.2%
dividend yield
You get 5.2 cents a year for every $1 you own. That is income while growth runs at 1.5%.
19.5%
operating margin
The company keeps 19.5 cents from each sales dollar before taxes. That is solid for packaged food.
0.4
beta
Beta 0.4 means the stock usually moves less than the market. Less drama, less upside.
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 $12.2B (33% of capital)
- net profit margin 11.5% — keeps 12 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 20% — $0.20 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 GIS 3 years ago → it's now worth $6,210.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
General Mills posted $9.4B in revenue and $3.00 EPS in the latest quarter.
EDGAR lists $9.4B of revenue and a 15.7% gross margin. Yahoo Finance shows the last reported quarter at $1.10 actual EPS versus $1.04 expected, so the feeds do not line up cleanly.
$9.4B
revenue
$3.00
eps
15.7%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The $9.4B revenue figure matters because it is the biggest line item, and it sits next to an EPS print that conflicts with the quote page.
-
general mills reported weak fiscal 2026 second-quarter (ended november 23rd) results.
-
it marked the fourthconsecutive quarter of vs. prior year earnings-per-share declines.
-
specifically, the cereal, pet foods, and snacks producer posted adjusted earnings of $1.10 a share, marking a decline of 21% from the prior-year figure.a number of factors contributed to the poor showing, including the loss of business due to divestitures, weak sales volume in three of the company’s four operating units, and high operating costs.
-
however, even when excluding the divested businesses for comparison purposes, general mills witnessed a 1% organic sales decrease during the period.the biggest problem was in the north america retail unit, where big g cereal and canadian sales were down double digits. the us snacks and us meals & baking solution segments also performed poorly in the first half of the fiscal year.
-
we look for the company to earn $3.70 a share in fiscal 2026.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is continued north america retail volume declines in cereal and snacks.
med
volume erosion keeps beating pricing
three of four operating units saw weak sales volume, and North America Retail was especially soft. For a $19.5B packaged-food business, repeated volume pressure is the core problem, not a side plot.
If volume stays weak, the current $3.70 FY2026 EPS view likely comes down again.
med
the dividend becomes the whole thesis
a 5.2% yield helps support the stock, but yields this high in staples usually mean the market wants compensation. If profits keep sliding, investors start asking harder questions about payout flexibility.
This matters because the bull case today is part yield, part mean reversion. Take away the confidence in one, and you stress both.
med
debt limits how forgiving the story can be
General Mills carries $12.2B of long-term debt, equal to 33% of capital. That's manageable for a stable food business. It gets less comfortable if weak volumes and higher operating costs linger together.
Combined, these risks pressure the exact things investors own GIS for: steady earnings, a safe dividend, and a defensive multiple.
With revenue expected at $19B and EPS expected at $3.70, this is a low-growth setup with less room for mistakes than the "defensive" label implies.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next quarterly report
you want to see whether the four-quarter EPS decline streak ends. if it doesn't, the low multiple is probably telling the truth.
metric
FY2026 EPS estimate
it's $3.70 right now. revisions matter more than the headline yield because earnings are what fund everything else.
trend
north america retail demand
big g cereal and canadian sales were down double digits. you need that category pressure to stop getting worse.
risk
cost pressure versus margin
10.7% net margin is still respectable. if operating costs keep rising while volume slips, that cushion gets thinner fast.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts don't see a clear short-term edge here.
risk profile
lower than average
stability score 2 — safer than roughly 80% of stocks, which fits the packaged-food model.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart isn't flashing capitulation or acceleration.
earnings predictability
100 / 100
these numbers are usually steady. the recent issue is direction, not volatility.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net selling for 3 consecutive quarters — 588 buyers vs. 699 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.4B shares. net selling for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$41
$61
$47
current price
$51
target midpoint · +9% from current · 3-5yr high: $70 (+50% · 14% ann'l return)
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