The Hershey Company

What they do

Hershey markets, sells and distributes chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery, gum and mint refreshment products, protein bars, pantry items and salty snacks. It reports through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks and International. It manufactures in the U.S. and abroad and also operates Hershey's Chocolate World retail stores and licenses certain trademarks to third parties.

Revenue drivers

• North America Confectionery — Traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery in the U.S. and Canada, including Hershey's, Reese's, Kisses, Jolly Rancher, Kit Kat, Twizzlers and York, plus gum, mints, protein bars and pantry lines; the company's core segment and the largest piece of its portfolio.
• North America Salty Snacks — U.S. salty snacking products such as ready-to-eat popcorn, baked and trans fat-free snacks and pretzels; includes the LesserEvil organic popcorn and puffed snack business acquired in November 2025.
• International — Confectionery operations and manufacturing in Mexico, Brazil, India and Malaysia plus export sales across Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa; described as a combination of individually immaterial operating segments.
• Seasonal and retail/licensing — Seasons are called an important part of the business model, and the North America Confectionery segment includes Hershey's Chocolate World retail stores and trademark licensing to third parties.

Recent performance

Second-quarter 2026 consolidated net sales were $2,787.3 million, up 6.6%, with organic constant-currency net sales up 3.6%, according to the July 30, 2026 earnings release. Reported net income was $457.7 million, or $2.26 per share diluted, up 629.0%, and adjusted EPS diluted was $1.90, up 57.0%. For the six months ended June 28, 2026, net sales were $5,891.5 million, up 8.7%, reported net income was $892.8 million, or $4.39 per share diluted, up 211.3%, and adjusted EPS diluted was $4.25, up 28.4%. North America Confectionery reported net sales growth of 4.2% in the quarter, driven by roughly 14% organic price and offset by roughly 10% organic volume mix. Full-year 2025 net income fell to $883.3 million from $2.22 billion in 2024, reflecting items including derivative mark-to-market losses that the company excludes from adjusted results.

Strategy

Hershey states four strategic imperatives: drive the core confection business while broadening participation in snacking, deliver profitable international growth, expand competitive advantage through differentiated capabilities, and responsibly manage operations for long-term sustainability. The company is expanding its core confection brands into new snacking occasions and adding snack categories through acquisitions, including LesserEvil (closed November 2025), Sour Strips (November 2024) and Weaver Popcorn manufacturing assets (May 2023). It has reset its international investment strategy, allocating resources to markets with the highest profitable-growth potential. It is transforming supply chain capabilities and its enterprise resource planning system, and cites its Advancing Agility Automation Initiative, with expected 2026 savings of approximately $100 million.

Risks

• Brand and reputation risk — Product quality and safety issues, or environmental, social and governance concerns, could harm Hershey's reputation, reduce demand and lead to litigation or government action.
• Input cost volatility — Hershey relies on exchange-traded commodities, specifically cocoa products, and the 10-Q cites higher manufacturing, logistics and supply chain costs as ongoing pressures.
• Volume/mix pressure — Second-quarter 2026 North America Confectionery growth came from roughly 14% organic price while organic volume mix fell roughly 10%, indicating price-led rather than volume-led growth.
• International macro uncertainty — The 10-K states that the uncertain macroeconomic environment in many international markets is expected to continue, affecting the scale and timing of international investments.

Outlook

For full-year 2026, Hershey narrowed net sales growth guidance to 4.5% to 5% (about 150 basis points of which is attributed to the LesserEvil acquisition) and organic net sales growth to 3% to 3.5%. It guides reported EPS growth of 82% to 89% and adjusted EPS growth of 32.5% to 35%, implying adjusted EPS diluted of $8.36 to $8.52 versus $6.31 in 2025. Management also expects a 25% to 27% effective tax rate, interest expense of approximately $200 million to $210 million, capital expenditures of approximately $425 million to $475 million, and about $100 million of Advancing Agility Automation Initiative savings; the outlook excludes potential future tariff rebates.