Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM), the largest egg producer in the United States, on Wednesday announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026.
The company posted a net income of $199.34 million, a 32.9% increase year-over-year, with diluted earnings per share rising 34.6% to $4.12, falling short of analyst expectations of $5.10 per share.
First-quarter net sales reached $922.6 million, up 17.4% from $785.87 million a year earlier, but slightly below the consensus estimate of $960.31 million.
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Shell egg sales climbed 6.5% to $789.4 million, driven by a 4.4% increase in conventional eggs to $505.9 million and a 10.4% jump in specialty eggs to $283.5 million. Specialty eggs now represent 35.9% of total shell egg sales, up from 34.6% a year ago.
Prepared foods sales soared to $83.9 million, up 839.1% from $8.9 million, largely driven by the Echo Lake Foods acquisition, which contributed $70.5 million in net sales.
A Bloomberg report on Wednesday noted a broader market shift toward specialty eggs. According to the outlet, Cal-Maine is seeing consumers increasingly favor fancier, more sustainable varieties, such as cage-free, pasture-raised, and organic eggs. While these segments are driving growth for the company, conventional eggs remain the dominant portion of its business, and the broader consumer pivot has weighed on overall sales.
In the first quarter, specialty eggs and prepared foods were key to Cal-Maine’s performance, together making up nearly 40% of net sales. Specialty eggs alone contributed 30.7% of sales, with strong consumer demand for premium options like cage-free and pasture-raised varieties leading to double-digit growth in both dollar and volume sales.
The company reported cash and short-term investments of $1.25 billion at the end of the first quarter.
Sherman Miller, president and chief executive officer of Cal-Maine Foods, said, “We delivered our strongest first quarter in company history, aided by higher specialty egg sales, the expansion of our prepared foods platform, and supported by solid performance in conventional eggs. Cal-Maine Foods enters fiscal 2026 from a position of strength and is a uniquely attractive combination of both value and growth in today’s food sector.”
“Looking ahead, we see a clear and compelling long-term growth trajectory for Cal-Maine Foods as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities. Our significant scale, vertical integration, diversification, and financial discipline all provide a resilient foundation,” Miller added.
Cal-Maine’s solid balance sheet and strong cash flow give the company the flexibility to invest organically and pursue M&A opportunities that enhance financial returns while advancing its consumer-focused growth strategy, the company said in a press release.
The recent acquisitions of Echo Lake Foods and Crepini Foods broaden Cal-Maine’s prepared foods platform into new formats and dayparts, while adding greater differentiation across both retail and foodservice channels.
The company noted that U.S. egg consumption continues to benefit from strong consumer trends, including rising demand for protein, greater emphasis on health and wellness, affordability, and steady population growth.
On the supply side, the national table-egg flock is rebounding from the effects of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) but continues to trail historical levels.
Cal-Maine Foods declared a cash dividend of approximately $1.37 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2026, in line with its variable dividend policy. The dividend will be paid on November 13, 2025, to shareholders of record as of October 29, 2025.
Price Action: CALM shares were trading lower by 3.00% to $91.28 at last check Wednesday.
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