RIDGELAND, Miss. — Cal-Maine Foods Inc. reports results for its fiscal 2026 third quarter, ended Feb 28, 2026. Unless otherwise indicated, all comparisons are to the comparable period of fiscal 2025.
Third quarter highlights include: Net sales of $667 million, down 53 percent; shell egg sales of $572.3 million, down 57.5 percent; conventional egg sales of $283.2 million, down 72.1 percent; specialty egg sales of $289.1 million, down 12.1 percent; average number of layer hens and breeding flock grew 2 percent and 13 percent, respectively and total chicks hatched rose 41.7 percent; prepared foods sales of $63.6 million, up 441.2 percent; gross profit of $119.3 million, down 83.3 percent, and gross profit margin of 17.9 percent; operating income of $35.9 million, down 94.3 percent, and operating income margin of 5.4 percent; net income attributable to Cal-Maine Foods of $50.5 million, down 90.1 percent; diluted earnings per share of $1.06, down 89.8 percent; net cash flow from operations of $103.6 million, down 81.9 percent; and a cash dividend of approximately $16.8 million, or approximately 36 cents per share, pursuant to the company’s established dividend policy.
“The shell egg market in the third quarter provided an important real-time test of our strategy,” Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods president and CEO, said. “Periods of egg price softness highlighted that our performance is not simply a function of spot market conditions, but of how effectively we manage mix, pricing structures, costs, and capital across the cycle. Despite materially lower egg prices compared to the historic levels seen in the prior year, our diversified portfolio and operational execution enabled us to deliver solid results and maintain momentum. In our view, this reinforces the resilience of the model we are building that we expect will lead to more durable normalized earnings power.”
“We believe the recent decline in wholesale egg prices reflects improved supply following prior-year HPAI disruptions, during our last fiscal quarter, depopulations reported by the USDA were down 70.6 percent and the average national layer flock increased 2.2 percent, year over year,” Miller said, adding that, “In parallel, more stable purchasing patterns across retail and foodservice have contributed to lower wholesale prices, while retail pricing continues to adjust more gradually.”
“At the same time, we continue to invest in strengthening the long-term structure of the business,” he noted. “The acquisition of certain assets of Creighton Brothers and Crystal Lake advances several elements of our strategy simultaneously: expanding the scale and geographic reach of our shell egg platform, increasing internal sourcing capabilities for egg-based ingredients, and enhancing our ability to support the growth of our prepared foods business. By integrating shell egg production, egg products, and prepared foods more tightly within our value chain, we believe we can improve supply security, increase operational efficiency, and reinforce the economics of our prepared foods platform. Deploying capital into assets that deepen these structural advantages is central to our disciplined capital allocation framework.”
· Outlook
“Looking forward, we expect a progressive recovery in prepared foods, with volumes rebounding as capacity comes online and utilization improves, supported by steady underlying demand. Importantly, these dynamics position the business for more stable, higher-quality earnings over the long term,” Miller said.
“We believe Cal-Maine Foods is well positioned to benefit from durable shifts shaping the egg category,” he added. “Our strategy is designed to strengthen the quality and consistency of our earnings over time. By building on the structural strength of our core shell egg platform while expanding specialty eggs, egg products, and prepared foods, we are enhancing the resilience and diversification of our business.
“The progress we are seeing across the portfolio reflects the effectiveness of this strategy — improving mix, deepening customer partnerships, reinforcing operational efficiency, and strengthening the long-term economics of our model, positioning Cal-Maine Foods for sustainable growth and long-term value creation.”
Cal-Maine Foods has also repurchased 329,830 shares of its common stock under the company’s current share repurchase authorization during the quarter for a total of $24.3 million. The repurchase program permits the company to repurchase up to $500 million, of which $350.8 million remains available, the company announced.
For the third quarter of fiscal 2026, Cal-Maine Foods will pay a cash dividend of approximately 36 cents per share to holders of its common stock, pursuant to the company’s variable dividend policy. The dividend is payable on May 14, 2026, to holders of record on April 29, 2026. The final amount paid per share will be based on the number of outstanding shares on the record date, the company said.
