Hormel Foods Posts Softer Operating Income, Net Income and Diluted EPS on Both Reporting Windows in Interim Filing, While Operating Cash Flow Rises

Bottom line

The interim filing from HORMEL FOODS CORP /DE/ under 10-Q for period-ended-2026-07-26 (accession 0000048465-26-000055, CIK 0000048465, ticker HRL) shows a softer headline profile on both the three-month and nine-month year-to-date windows relative to the prior year, with each of operating income, net income and diluted EPS landing lower than its year-ago comparable while still remaining in profitable territory. Reported amounts, drawn directly from the cited figures:

- Operating Income (Loss) was $239,748,000 USD for the three months ended July 27, 2025 and $110,904,000 USD for the three months ended July 26, 2026; it was $716,430,000 USD for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and $571,713,000 USD for the nine months ended July 26, 2026. - Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $183,742,000 USD for the three months ended July 27, 2025 and $59,573,000 USD for the three months ended July 26, 2026; it was $534,334,000 USD for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and $398,848,000 USD for the nine months ended July 26, 2026. - Earnings Per Share, Diluted was $0.33 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the three months ended July 27, 2025 and $0.11 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the three months ended July 26, 2026; it was $0.97 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and $0.72 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the nine months ended July 26, 2026.

MANAGEMENT EXPLANATIONS Management states that all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the interim period have been included and that the significant accounting policies used are consistent with those described in the most recent annual filing. The filing also notes reclassifications to interest and investment income (split into interest income and other income, net), to certain prepaid and receivable balances, and to the related cash-flow line for accounts receivable. Held-for-sale accounting is described, with valuation losses and subsequent gains on disposal groups recognized in selling, general and administrative and presented as a non-cash item in the cash-flow statement; reference is made to the cited note for additional discussion. Recent FASB pronouncements on income tax disclosures, expense disaggregation and internal-use software are described, with the Company still assessing the impact, transition approach and timing of adoption for the latter two.

ANALYST INFERENCE On the authorized year-over-year axis, earnings per share (diluted) for the three months ended July 26, 2026 versus the three months ended July 27, 2025 shows a decrease (profit to profit), and earnings per share (diluted) for the nine months ended July 26, 2026 versus the nine months ended July 27, 2025 likewise shows a decrease (profit to profit). Operating income and net income attributable to parent on both the quarterly and nine-month year-to-date views also show authorized decreases while remaining profit-to-profit. No other directional comparisons are asserted in this section.

COUNTER-EVIDENCE None of the quoted source narrative within this section's scope asserts a countervailing improvement in operating income, net income, or diluted EPS for either window; each line as reported above is taken directly from the cited figures. A softer-bottom-line interim pattern is also consistent with the recent SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form (Accession read in parallel.

UNKNOWNS The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

COVERAGE SCOPE This section is restricted to the reporting-period identity of the filing and the operating-income, net-income and diluted-EPS figures listed above. Cash-flow line items, segment data and balance-sheet movements are covered in subsequent sections. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Financial performance

- For HORMEL FOODS CORP /DE/ (HRL) under 10-Q for period-ended-2026-07-26 (accession 0000048465-26-000055), the reported top-line operating result moved in the same direction across both windows. Operating Income (Loss) was $110,904,000 USD for the three months ended July 26, 2026, lower than the $239,748,000 USD reported for the three months ended July 27, 2025, and remained in profit territory on both sides of the comparison. Operating Income (Loss) was $571,713,000 USD for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, lower than the $716,430,000 USD reported for the nine months ended July 27, 2025, again with profit in the current window and profit in the prior window. The profit-to-profit transition on both the quarter and the year-to-date view indicates that the decline is a compression of an existing operating result rather than a swing into a loss.

- The bottom line tracked the same shape. Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $59,573,000 USD for the three months ended July 26, 2026, below the $183,742,000 USD posted for the three months ended July 27, 2025, and stayed profitable on both sides. For the longer view, Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $398,848,000 USD for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, below the $534,334,000 USD recorded for the nine months ended July 27, 2025, once again with profit on the current line and profit on the prior-year line. On a per-share basis, Earnings Per Share, Diluted was $0.11 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the three months ended July 26, 2026, lower than the $0.33 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the three months ended July 27, 2025, and was $0.72 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, lower than the $0.97 per diluted share USD/SHARES for the nine months ended July 27, 2025, in each case holding within positive territory.

- Quarter-over-quarter, the filing as cited offers no separate prior-quarter anchor inside the interim statements, so the only window the evidence directly supports is the year-over-year pair; reading any sequential movement between the third quarter and the second quarter would require figures the catalog does not provide. Peer or industry comparison data is also absent from the filing evidence. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

- On guidance and forward expectations, management's commentary in the quoted portion of Item 2 does not introduce a numerical outlook, raise the prior outlook, or trim it within the quoted text; the only forward-looking items disclosed are upcoming accounting-standard adoptions and held-for-sale accounting policies, not an earnings or margin forecast. Readers should therefore treat expectations as unaddressed by the filing rather than as confirmed or withdrawn.

- On causality, the filing evidence does not attribute the year-over-year softening to any single cause. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. The cited notes instead describe accounting-policy choices around assets held for sale, cash-flow reclassifications, and several FASB pronouncements pending adoption for later fiscal years, none of which are tied by the quoted text to the current-period operating result.

- Counter-evidence within the filing is limited: the reclassification discussion in the cash-flow note and the held-for-sale accounting policy describe presentation mechanics rather than operating drivers, and no item outside this article's permitted scope contradicts the year-over-year decline. Anything beyond that — peer benchmarking, segment-level drivers, or sequential quarter-on-quarter movement — remains an open question for the next earnings release. For context on how a comparable food and consumer-staples issuer handled a similar interim picture, the SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form (Accession article on this site provides a useful parallel structure.

Operating drivers and segments

The 10-Q filed by HORMEL FOODS CORP /DE/ (CIK 0000048465, accession 0000048465-26-000055) reports operating income for the consolidated business at four reference points: the three-month period the three months ended July 26, 2026 at $110,904,000 USD, the prior-year quarter the three months ended July 27, 2025 at $239,748,000 USD, the nine-month year-to-date period the nine months ended July 26, 2026 at $571,713,000 USD, and the prior-year nine-month comparative the nine months ended July 27, 2025 at $716,430,000 USD. Each window is operating income, not segment profit, so the line speaks to the consolidated operating result rather than the reportable segment performance referenced elsewhere in the filing. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Management's own commentary describes segment placement of recent transactions rather than identifying the drivers behind the operating income line itself. The filing notes that results for the Brazil business were reflected in the International segment, that the whole-bird turkey business and Justin's, LLC were primarily reflected in the Retail segment prior to deconsolidation, and that results of operations for Mountain Prairie, LLC were primarily reflected within the Retail segment through the date of divestiture. It also states that an impairment charge is reflected in Equity in Earnings of Affiliates within the International segment and that equity in earnings from corporate venturing investments is not included in any reportable segment's measure of segment profit. Management describes the segment measure as "segment profit" without quantifying what portion of the consolidated operating income each segment contributed during the three months ended July 26, 2026 or the nine months ended July 26, 2026. The disclosed segment placements thus explain where certain businesses were reported, not what moved operating income.

The filing adds only qualitative accounting context: certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current year presentation, including a separation of Interest and Investment Income into Interest Income and Other Income (Expense), Net, a reclassification between Accounts Receivable and Prepaid Expenses, and changes to the classification of disposal groups. Management also describes pending accounting standards covering income tax disclosures and expense disaggregation, stating that adoption is not expected to have a material effect on financial condition or results of operations.

The transition in operating income between the prior and current periods is authorized as a decrease in each window: between the three months ended July 26, 2026 and the three months ended July 27, 2025 operating income is lower than the prior-year quarter, and between the nine months ended July 26, 2026 and the nine months ended July 27, 2025 operating income is lower than the prior year-to-date period. In both comparisons the current period remains an operating profit rather than a loss. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

For readers comparing interim filings across the food and consumer-products space, SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form (Accession offers a parallel of consolidated operating income softening across two reporting windows, useful as a counterpoint to gauge whether the directional pattern shown here is company-specific or part of a broader interim trend.

Cash flow and capital

- The nine-month operating cash flow figure is positive and is higher than the prior-year comparative for the nine-month year-to-date period, consistent with continued cash generation from the core food business. The investing line for the same nine-month window is negative in each year, with the current period showing an increase (a smaller outflow) versus the prior year, and the financing line is negative in both windows, with the current period showing a decrease (a larger outflow) than the prior year. The exact drivers of these movements are not broken out in the filing, so any single cause for the change in operating, investing, or financing flows is The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause..

- On the asset side of the balance sheet, Cash and Cash Equivalents stands at $839,639,000 USD as of the balance sheet date of July 26, 2026, while Accounts and Other Receivables, Net, Current sits at $733,460,000 USD on the same date. Liquidity remains a function of those balances and the operating cash the company continues to produce. - On the liability side, Accounts Payable, Current is $677,999,000 USD as of the balance sheet date, and Long-term Debt, Excluding Current Maturities is $2,349,489,000 USD as of the balance sheet date of July 26, 2026, leaving the long-dated debt stack as the principal non-current financing item visible in this section.

- Capital expenditures under Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment are $219,331,000 USD for the nine-month year-to-date period, lower than the $219,444,000 USD spent over the prior-year comparative for the nine-month year-to-date period. The filing does not isolate which projects were deferred, so any single cause for the year-over-year pullback in capex is The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.. - Shareholder returns moved in the opposite direction: Payments of Ordinary Dividends, Common Stock were $481,401,000 USD for the current nine-month window, higher than the $473,692,000 USD recorded over the prior-year comparative for the nine-month year-to-date period, reinforcing the dividend as the more visible lever of capital return even as property, plant, and equipment spending eased.

- Outside the cash flow statement, the filing describes several portfolio actions that touch working capital and net assets. During the third quarter of fiscal year (omitted), the Brazil business under the Ceratti brand was classified as held for sale, with a non-cash, pre-tax valuation loss recognized in Selling, General, and Administrative; the components disclosed include Cash and Cash Equivalents, Accounts and Other Receivables, Inventories, and Accounts Payable as held-for-sale line items. The Brazil divestiture was finalized on July (omitted), subsequent to the end of the third quarter, with cash proceeds of (omitted) million received.

, fair-valued using Level 3 inputs. Mountain Prairie, LLC was sold on November (omitted) for cash proceeds of (omitted) million. The mechanical impact of these transactions on working-capital lines and on the investing outflow above is not separately quantified in the quoted text, so any single cause attribution is The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause..

- Broader peer benchmarking is not provided in the filing: The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison..

Peer and historical context

Viewed against its own prior-year windows, the picture is mixed rather than uniformly soft, and the strength sits on the cash side of the statement while the income statement shows a more cautious tone.

Operating cash generation is the clearest bright spot on a historical basis. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities was $522,345,000 for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and rose to $768,752,000 for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, extending a multi-year pattern in which the underlying packaged-foods franchise has been able to convert activity into cash even when reported profit has wobbled. The size of the increase matters more than the level because the cash line is what funds ordinary dividends and the higher capex programme visible later in the cash-flow statement.

The income statement tells a more reserved story on the same historical comparison. Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $534,334,000 for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and declined to $398,848,000 for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, while Operating Income (Loss) was $716,430,000 versus $571,713,000 over the same two nine-month windows. On the more recent three-month reporting period, Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was $183,742,000 in the three months ended July 27, 2025 and softened to $59,573,000 in the three months ended July 26, 2026, with Operating Income (Loss) tracking the same direction from $239,748,000 to $110,904,000.

For a read-across to how other food and consumer-discretionary issuers have framed the same stretch, the discussion of soft top-line and bottom-line prints in SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form (Accession sits closest to the direction of travel seen here, although the cash-flow profile is a clear point of separation.

No peer table, sector index or external benchmark is included in the filing evidence, so any wider industry ranking of margins or returns would be unsupported. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison. Within the filing itself, the only historical movement that carries a clear directional contrast is the operating cash flow line, which rose while reported profit declined; the reasons for that divergence are not spelled out. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

Scenario analysis

In the base scenario, the bottom line trends lower than the prior-year window. Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent for the nine-month year-to-date period of the nine months ended July 26, 2026 comes in at $398,848,000, a profit that is below the prior-year comparative of $534,334,000 for the nine months ended July 27, 2025. The three-month reporting period of the three months ended July 26, 2026 likewise produces a profit of $59,573,000, below the prior-year quarterly profit of $183,742,000 for the three months ended July 27, 2025. Earnings Per Share, Diluted moves lower in both the nine-month and the quarterly views, with each current period remaining profitable against a prior-period profit. Operating Income (Loss) follows the same shape, lower on both the nine-month and the three-month comparisons, while each side remains in profit territory. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

- Reported facts (Base): the year-to-date and quarterly net income and operating income comparisons are filed as decreases against the prior-year windows in 10-Q for period-ended-2026-07-26, accession 0000048465-26-000055. - Management explanations (Base): the cited note describes the Brazil divestiture, the whole-bird turkey sale out of Melrose, Minnesota, the Mountain Prairie sow operation sale, and the Justin's, LLC deconsolidation as discrete transactions taken during the period, with related results routed through the Retail and International segments. - Analyst inference (Base): with the divestitures already executed and the retained earnings comparison lower on both windows, a base-case read assumes the existing portfolio mix delivers a lower but still profitable result absent further portfolio actions. - Counter-evidence (Base): the impairment review of Garudafood recorded in Equity in Earnings of Affiliates within the International segment and the loss tied to the Mountain Prairie, LLC sale in Selling, General, and Administrative both point to discrete charges that already sit inside the reported figures rather than as additional headroom. - Unknowns (Base): The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Upside hinges on the retained businesses absorbing the disclosed transaction effects and on equity method earnings rebounding. Operating Income (Loss) on the nine-month view is lower than the prior year but still a profit, so an upside path keeps that operating line roughly flat to slightly improved while Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent moves closer to the prior-year figure of $534,334,000 for the nine months ended July 27, 2025 and the quarterly figure moves toward $183,742,000 for the three months ended July 27, 2025. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities is positive on both windows in this filing and moves higher against the prior year, framing a liquidity backdrop that supports the upside read on earnings.

- Reported facts (Upside): operating cash flow direction is higher year over year on the nine-month comparison, while net income remains profitable on both the quarterly and year-to-date views. - Management explanations (Upside): the cited note describes the Garudafood investment as a long-term strategic partner and ties the associated impairment to a quoted market price decline rather than to operating performance, which leaves room for an equity method earnings recovery if that market price stabilizes. - Analyst inference (Upside): a softer top-line profile alongside higher operating cash flow suggests working-capital tailwinds could keep funding the current Payments of Ordinary Dividends, Common Stock, which themselves are higher than the prior-year window. - Counter-evidence (Upside): Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment are lower than the prior-year nine-month figure, which can either reflect disciplined capital allocation or reduced reinvestment; the filing does not separate those readings. - Unknowns (Upside): The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

The downside path starts from the same reported comparison — a lower profit on Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent for the nine months ended July 26, 2026 against $534,334,000 and for the three months ended July 26, 2026 against $183,742,000 — and adds pressure from further equity method write-downs and from financing outflows. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Financing Activities is negative on both windows and moves lower against the prior year, raising the cost of the dividend program and any incremental capital return. Operating Income (Loss) is lower than the prior year on both the nine-month and quarterly views while remaining a profit, so a deeper downside still preserves the profit-to-profit transition but narrows the cushion.

- Reported facts (Downside): financing outflows deepen against the prior-year window, while operating cash flow remains positive and higher; net income and operating income are each lower than the prior-year comparative on both windows. - Management explanations (Downside): the cited note flags continued declines in Garudafood's quoted market price as the trigger for the impairment charge already taken and records the Mountain Prairie, LLC pre-tax loss in Selling, General, and Administrative. - Analyst inference (Downside): with dividend payments running higher than the prior year and capex running lower, a scenario of weaker realized pricing in the retained portfolio would compress the gap between operating cash flow and total return to shareholders. - Counter-evidence (Downside): the higher operating cash inflow tempers a pure liquidity squeeze read, and the Justin's, LLC interest is now reported as Equity in Earnings of Affiliates, which can smooth segment results. - Unknowns (Downside): The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

Risks and what to watch

- The earnings trajectory that this filing carries into the next report is the softer year-over-year net income result for HORMEL FOODS CORP /DE/ (ticker HRL) under 10-Q for period-ended-2026-07-26 (accession 0000048465-26-000055, CIK 0000048465). Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent printed at $398,848,000 USD for the nine months ended July 26, 2026, against a higher $534,334,000 USD in the nine months ended July 27, 2025. The three-month comparison is directionally the same: $59,573,000 USD for the three months ended July 26, 2026 versus a stronger $183,742,000 USD in the three months ended July 27, 2025.

Both windows move from a profit to a smaller profit, which is the only year-over-year read this section is allowed to assert. - The principal downside risk revealed in the quoted source narrative is the Garudafood equity-method investment. Management describes an impairment review in the third quarter of fiscal (omitted) initiated because continued declines in Garudafood's quoted market price indicated the decline was no longer believed to be temporary.

Fair value was set using Garudafood's unadjusted quoted market price, a Level 1 input, and the resulting charge ran through Equity in Earnings of Affiliates within the International segment. Any further softening of that quoted market price could put additional write-downs back on the table. - A second risk is the Brazil divestiture.

Goodwill reclassified to assets held for sale in the third quarter of fiscal (omitted) relates to that transaction, and the previously recognized indefinite-lived trade name connected with the prior sale of the controlling equity interest in Justin's, LLC was derecognized at (omitted) million. Beyond those named divestitures, the broader portfolio carries smaller non-core exposures such as the Mountain Prairie, LLC sow operation sold to Chaparral Ranches, LLC for cash proceeds of (omitted) million, which produced a pre-tax loss recognized in Selling, General, and Administrative.

The aggregate impact of these portfolio reshaping items is part of the risk picture for the next period. - Counter-evidence in the filing cuts the other way on the third-party valuation methodology for the Garudafood-type investments, where management used a combination of observable data and significant unobservable Level 3 inputs to estimate fair value. That reliance on unobservable inputs introduces measurement uncertainty and means reported impairment amounts depend on assumptions that may shift in future quarters.

The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. - Important unknowns for the next reporting cycle include the size of any further Garudafood-related impairment, the run-rate impact of the Brazil divestiture on segment reporting (with Equity in Earnings of Affiliates disclosed in Note O - Segment Reporting, and corporate venturing earnings kept outside segment profit), and whether ordinary dividend outflows and capital expenditure levels continue on the trajectories seen earlier in the year. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison.

- The metrics worth tracking in the next 10-Q are net income for both the quarter and year-to-date windows, operating income on the same windows, the three cash-flow categories (operating, investing and financing), capital expenditure outflows, ordinary dividend payments, and the quoted market price and equity-method earnings contribution from Garudafood, since each is the most direct read on whether the impairments and divestitures flagged here prove to be one-off or a continuing weight on results. For perspective on how softer bottom-line prints have read at other consumer-staples and infrastructure issuers this season, see SMITH A O CORP (AOS) Reports Softer Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS on Both the Quarter and Six-Month Year-to-Date Views in Form.