HRL

Hormel Foods is a branded protein and packaged-foods company (Spam, Jennie-O, Applegate, Skippy) with a long dividend-growth pedigree, but FY2025 was a clear deterioration year. Revenue was essentially flat, up just 1.6% to $12.1B, while profitability collapsed: gross profit fell 6.4%, operating income dropped 32.7% to $719M, net income fell 40.6% to $478M, and diluted EPS fell 40.8% to $0.87. Margins compressed to a thin 15.6% gross / 5.9% operating / 4.0% net, and ROE sank to 6.1%. Operating cash flow fell 33.3% to $845M even as capex rose 21.2% to $311M.

The five-year history frames the severity: net income peaked at $1,000M in FY2022 and has now nearly halved to $478M, while revenue has been stuck around $12B since FY2022. The drivers are the familiar packaged-protein squeeze — input/commodity cost pressure, soft volumes and pricing limits — compounded by an unusually unsettled leadership picture: the filing lists an Interim CEO (Jeffrey Ettinger), an Interim CFO/Controller, and an interim supply-chain head, signaling a company in transition without a permanent management team to drive a turnaround.