RIDGELAND, Miss. — Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the largest egg company in the United States, has reported results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended May 30, 2026. Unless otherwise indicated, all comparisons are to the comparable period of fiscal 2025.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026: Prepared Foods accounted for 10.9 percent of net sales. Combined, Specialty Shell Eggs and Prepared Foods increased to 53 percent of net sales.
In fiscal 2026: Prepared Foods accounted for 8.4 percent of net sales. Combined, Specialty Shell Eggs and Prepared Foods grew to 44.4 percent of net sales. Cal-Maine acquired certain assets of Creighton Brothers LLC and its affiliates, intended to further enhance vertically integrated operating model and strengthen connectivity across shell egg and prepared foods value chain, the company noted, adding that it also acquired the Van’s® brand, aimed at accelerating strategic evolution into value-added, consumer-facing prepared foods and further diversifying earnings profile.
Subsequent to fiscal year-end: Cal-Maine acquired additional Eggland’s Best® franchise territory in the northeast, expanding the company’s distribution footprint and increasing its specialty shell egg category penetration across one of the nation’s largest, highest-income consumer markets, the company said, adding that it also has announced a new $54 million investment to further expand Prepared Foods production capacity, which is expected to add approximately 30 percent incremental production capacity beginning in the first half of fiscal 2028.
“Fiscal 2026, culminating in a particularly challenging fourth quarter, reinforced the importance of our strategy to enhance the structural mix of our business, expand our portfolio of products that support more stable and predictable financial performance, and reposition our pricing structure by reducing the impact of market-based pricing,” Sherman Miller, Cal-Maine Foods president and CEO, said. “Equally important has been maintaining a strong balance sheet, which provides the financial flexibility to navigate market cyclicality while supporting our long-term strategic priorities.”
“During the quarter, industry oversupply drove wholesale shell egg prices to historically low inflation-adjusted levels,” Miller said. “This dynamic was largely supply-driven rather than demand-driven, and we continue to see favorable long-term demand fundamentals across our end markets. The sustained trough pricing environment in the quarter provides a valuable stress-case reference point, demonstrating the resilience built through our strategic actions to date while highlighting the meaningful upside opportunity as our initiatives continue to mature.”
“We are proud of the progress we have made this year executing our strategy,” he added. “We are advancing our Prepared Foods network optimization and expansion initiatives on schedule, driving improved operating performance and sequential margin improvement in the quarter. We delivered Specialty Shell Egg volume growth for the full fiscal year with broad-based gains across subcategories. Notably, Specialty Shell Eggs plus Prepared Foods represented more than half of our net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026.”
Cal-Maine Foods previously operated as one operating and one reportable segment. Effective in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, the company implemented a new operating segment structure designed to better align with how management reviews operating results and makes decisions about resource allocation and strategic initiatives, the company noted.
Cal-Maine Foods’ reportable operating segments now consist of the following: Conventional Shell Eggs; Specialty Shell Eggs; and Prepared Foods.
- Conventional Shell Eggs
Fourth quarter and full-year performance reflected an egg pricing environment that deteriorated throughout fiscal 2026, with egg prices reaching historically low inflation-adjusted levels in the fourth quarter and remaining well below the record-high prices of the prior fiscal year, Cal-Maine said, adding that market conditions were driven by elevated supply, resulting in low pricing. During fiscal 2026, supply increased to levels that left the market abundantly supplied, a sharp contrast to the severe shortages experienced in the prior fiscal year. In addition, the fourth and first fiscal quarters are typically the seasonally lowest periods for pricing, even under more normal supply conditions.
These headwinds were partially offset by the benefits of existing grain-based and hybrid pricing arrangements with certain customers and rigorous commercial execution, the company noted. Volume increased 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter and was relatively flat for the fiscal year, indicating that lower results were driven by pricing rather than demand. Average selling price per dozen decreased 70.9 percent in the fourth quarter and 50.9 percent for the fiscal year. Margins declined due to substantially lower pricing, partially offset by improved price realization relative to both the prior-year fourth quarter and preceding quarter.
- Specialty Shell Eggs
Fourth quarter volumes were more consistent with historical seasonal patterns, underlying demand, and typical pricing relationships across adjacent categories, Cal-Maine said. Volumes decreased 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter primarily due to an unusually strong prior-year comparison, which benefited from temporary demand acceleration driven by an atypical pricing relationship with conventional shell eggs. The average selling price per dozen for the fourth quarter decreased 16.5 percent, driven by supply-side dynamics.
As a result, the quarter reflects a seasonal reversion from an exceptionally strong prior-year period, while the broader segment continues to benefit from stable long-term pricing and favorable demand fundamentals. For the fiscal year, volume increased 2.4 percent despite more typical pricing dynamics, an encouraging result that reflects resilient consumer demand and the strength of the company’s commercial execution. The average selling price per dozen for the fiscal year decreased 9.5 percent. Margins declined in both the fourth quarter and fiscal year, primarily due to pricing that remained below the elevated prior-year levels and lower volumes in the fourth quarter.
- Prepared Foods
For the fourth quarter, results reflected continued execution of previously announced network optimization and expansion initiatives, the company noted, adding that, as these initiatives advanced on schedule, higher production improved utilization and fixed-cost absorption, driving stronger operating performance and sequential margin improvement. Sales prices and volume increased compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2026.
The integration of Van’s progressed in line with expectations, with early results demonstrating strong performance. The Crepini® joint venture continued to exhibit robust growth momentum, reinforcing the company’s ability to scale high-performing brands and products, Cal-Maine said.
“Looking ahead, we believe we are increasingly well positioned as market conditions improve, particularly as we move beyond our first quarter,” Miller said. “During the first five weeks of our first quarter, Urner Barry reported that market prices averaged just (72 cents), approximately 54 percent below the comparable period in our fourth quarter. More recently, Urner Barry has reported that pricing has strengthened, increasing by more than 90 percent in only a few weeks. Early indications point to improving supply-demand balance, supporting a more constructive egg pricing environment heading into the fall, which is historically a seasonally stronger period.”
“More importantly, we believe the strategy we have been executing is beginning to gain traction,” he added. “A key component of this strategy is expanding our presence in categories with attractive long-term growth opportunities and strong market positioning.”
“We are excited about the expansion of our Eggland’s Best franchise territory in the northeast, which provides us with the right to distribute and sell Eggland’s Best and Land O’Lakes® branded eggs in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and select key areas in Vermont, New York, and Connecticut,” Miller added. “This expansion is expected to increase our Specialty Shell Egg volume by approximately 5 percent annually, and further strengthens our position in an important growth market.”
“We are also advancing our long-term growth strategy with a new $54 million investment to further expand our Prepared Foods production capacity,” he said. “This investment will add approximately 30 percent incremental production beginning in the first half of fiscal 2028, strengthening our business with a more durable, predictable, and diversified revenue and earnings profile. Together with our previously announced 30 percent organic capacity growth and 6 percent Van’s acquisition-driven capacity growth, Prepared Foods production capacity will increase over 60 percent from the end of fiscal 2026 through the first half of fiscal 2028.”
“We are still in the early stages of our evolution, with substantial runway to grow our value-added businesses through both organic expansion and targeted acquisitions,” Miller noted. “As our portfolio continues to mature, we expect a greater share of earnings to come from higher-quality, less cyclical sources, creating a more consistent earnings profile and positioning the company for sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value creation.”
Cal-Maine Foods repurchased 396,083 shares of its common stock under the company’s current share repurchase authorization during the fourth quarter for a total of $30.1 million. The repurchase program permits the company to repurchase up to $500 million, of which $320.7 million remains available.
Pursuant to the company’s variable dividend policy, Cal-Maine Foods will not pay a cash dividend for the fourth quarter and will not pay a dividend for a subsequent profitable quarter until the company is profitable on a cumulative basis computed from the date of the last quarter in which a dividend was paid. As of May 30, 2026, the total cumulative loss to be recovered before payment of any future dividends under our variable dividend policy was $35.9 million.
