MW Kraft Heinz wraps up 'challenging' year with a profit warning

By Steve Gelsi

Company's revenue falls short of Wall Street estimates as price increases were met with lower sales

Kraft Heinz Co. on Wednesday warned it will miss analyst expectations for adjusted profit in 2025, after the food giant faced a difficult 12 months.

The company said it faced unfavorable currency mixes, a slight loss in sales from businesses that it sold, and a decline in sales volumes - even as prices increased by 1.4%, mostly to mitigate higher input costs.

For the fourth quarter, Kraft Heinz's revenue dropped 4.1% to $6.58 billion from $6.86 billion, below the FactSet consensus estimate of $6.66 billion.

Kraft Heinz also cited "continued shifts in consumer behavior due to economic uncertainty" as well as a drop in its Lunchables packaged sandwiches and snacks.

"Although 2024 was a challenging year with our top line results coming in below our expectations, we remained disciplined in protecting profitability while driving industry-leading margins," Chief Executive Carlos Abrams-Rivera said in a prepared statement.

For 2025, Kraft Heinz $(KHC)$ expects adjusted earnings of $2.63 a share to $2.74 a share, below the FactSet consensus estimate of $3.04 a share.

Kraft Heinz's adjusted fourth-quarter earnings of 84 cents a share beat the analyst estimate of 78 cents a share.

Kraft Heinz's stock fell 3.8% in premarket trading. The stock has fallen 3.7% in 2025, while the S&P 500 SPX is up by 3.2%.

"We are committed to making the necessary investments to drive top line improvement, while remaining disciplined," said Abrams-Rivera.

For full-year 2024, Kraft Heinz's revenue fell 3% to $25.85 billion, which is slightly below the FactSet consensus estimate of $25.93 billion. Kraft Heinz also returned $2.7 billion to stockholders in 2024.

-Steve Gelsi

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February 12, 2025 07:57 ET (12:57 GMT)

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