By Katherine Hamilton

Mondelez International reported earnings missed that missed expectations and guided for a drop in 2025 adjusted earnings as it navigates rising cocoa costs.

Shares fell 5% to $53.70 after the market closed Tuesday. The stock is down about 25% in the past year.

The owner of Oreo and Cadbury posted a profit of $1.75 billion, or $1.30 a share, for the fourth quarter, compared with $950 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings per share was 65 cents, behind the 66 cents forecast of analysts, surveyed by FactSet. Mondelez said adjusted earnings per share decreased 16% on a constant currency basis due to a decline in operating results and lower equity method investment earnings.

Mondelez said it expects adjusted earnings per share in 2025 to decline about 10% due to cocoa inflation.

The company is specifically focused on its chocolate business as it navigates cocoa cost inflation, Chief Executive Dirk Van de Put said Tuesday. The company previously said it planned to raise chocolate prices in this year due to higher cocoa prices, which is expected to turn some customers away and dampen profitability.

Revenue rose about 3% to $9.60 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast revenue of $9.64 billion.

The company expects organic net revenue growth to be about 5% in 2025. It anticipates currency translation to decrease net revenue growth by about 2.5%, denting adjusted earnings per share by 12 cents. The company previously said it expects to raise prices despite many customers remaining price sensitive following years of inflation.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2025 16:52 ET (21:52 GMT)

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