Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
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| The on-shelf availability should also provide a modest benefit to us |
| So really pleased by that |
| And that is a super-premium brand that's playing in growth spaces and we feel very good about that brand |
| But I can say one of the things I'm pleased with as we look at our business now, Nature Valley is back to growing share |
| You know, more broadly, you know, I would say is, I mean, we're encouraged by the third quarter results in the improvement that we saw in underlying performance, particularly the level of competitiveness in the North America retail and improvement we saw in pet |
| We thought, you know, we'd see a benefit from doing that |
| Hopefully, we can reinvest some of that productivity back into marketing spending, so that we can continue to grow the top line of the business, because we've been very good in the middle of the P&L |
| But we are encouraged that the actions that we took that we thought would have a benefit are having the benefit that we thought |
| I mean, I'm not sure it's all the way back to growth, but it's -- but we certainly have seen improvements and we've importantly, we've seen the improvements in that in the wet pet food business in the places where we got our price points back in line with what we thought would be beneficial |
| I mean, Haagen-Dazs is a great brand and that's a super-premium brand and it's growing nicely |
| When it comes to specific categories, one of the things I'm most pleased with our performance over the last few years is our ability to hold our growth share in half our categories over that time |
| We were pleased with what we have done and the 20% change we've made so far |
| Well, the third quarter of Pet results were pretty good, I mean, which is to say that they're better than maybe even we expected |
| The movement was a little bit better and, you know, paced by a life protection formula, which was up, but also Tastefuls our cat dry business, which also shows some improvement as well -- as well as an improvement in our wet business |
| And particularly with regard to Wilderness and specific channels, what I feel good about the third quarter is what it shows that the area that we put emphasis on, we've seen [Technical Difficulty] and certainly improvement, which tells us the Blue Buffalo equity is good and that we're working on the right things |
| I would note the other thing on Pet is that we drove some good profitability increases in the quarter |
| I guess I would start by saying we're encouraged by our third quarter results, particularly improvement in competitiveness in our categories |
| So I'd expect around the year out somewhere in the mid-single-digit range of increase on our media, which will put us comfortably ahead of our top line expectations |
| So we feel really good about that |
| We -- in North America retail, we grew market share in about 45% of our categories in the third quarter, which is a significant improvement from what we had seen in the quarter before |
| And, you know, we've seen some big gains in our business, like Pillsbury, refrigerated dough, which has done quite well and, and meals and baking over time |
| But to the extent we can have a more benign inflationary environment and a supply chain environment we don't see the disruptions we've seen, combined with good productivity, that's a good start |
| And we feel good about where we are in the categories |
| And we've consistently gained market share in those businesses |
| And once we do that, we feel good about our ability |
| And hopefully, as we lap some of these other factors, snapping on self-availability, we'll see continued improvement |
| What I would say is that we feel like we're in a good place as we end the third quarter with our retail customers, whether that's in North America retail or whether that's in Pet |
| And so there are a number of places where we could go that would be either in categories we're in or tangential to categories and geographies where we feel like we've got some competitive advantages |
| So we are encouraged |
| So that's good |
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| The other driver, though, is that we have had the store traffic in China is down a little bit from where it had been before |
| We've had some struggles in bars as you well know |
| Gross margins, I think were a bit light relative to street expectations, namely given positive pricing, easing inflation, strong productivity |
| So retail sales on wet food are still down |
| And so it may be completely unsatisfactory |
| The biggest challenge, obviously, this year has been with growth |
| And I think that's probably a function of the Chinese consumer feeling the pinch of an economy that has slowed down over the past year |
| And in North America retail, the areas where volumes have still been lagging |
| That's been the big challenge |
| And so the comparisons are very, very difficult |
| And so that's one category where we had struggled where we feel like we're getting a little bit of momentum |
| And then just quickly, you called out in the prepared remarks, just a little bit of pressure, maybe from the consumer in China and also Brazil |
| And that's the biggest driver of our challenges in China, if you will |
| And as we look at the fourth quarter, it's tough to say what's going to happen |
| In fact, they're down 10 basis points from when the pandemic began |
| But last 4Q, you talked a lot about inventory reduction headwinds, and you said about 3% then |
| You know, I know within NAR, I guess, kind of calling out a little bit more pressure, let's say, in meals and baking and snacks |
| And then working with the Pet Specialty channel in particular, where Wilderness has had a challenge and they want to work with us and we want to work with them |
| It's really difficult to predict inventory changes |
| As we look to the fourth quarter, I mean, there are some timing issues as we talked about with expense -- the timing of expenses |
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