The Campbell’s Company: Fiscal 2026 Form 10-K Summary
Business context and reporting period
The Campbell’s Company manufactures and markets branded food and beverage products, primarily in North America. Reportable segments are Meals & Beverages and Snacks. Fiscal 2026 ended August 2, 2026 and contained 52 weeks, compared with 53 weeks in fiscal 2025 and 52 weeks in fiscal 2024. Approximately 95% of net sales were generated in the United States.
Key brands include Campbell’s, Rao’s, Prego, Pace, Pacific Foods, V8, Goldfish, Pepperidge Farm, Snyder’s of Hanover, Lance, Kettle Brand and Cape Cod. Walmart represented approximately 22% of consolidated net sales, and the five largest customers represented approximately 48%.
Financial performance and liquidity
| Metric | Fiscal 2026 | Fiscal 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net sales | $9.744 billion | $10.253 billion | Down 5% |
| Gross margin | 28.1% | 30.4% | Down 230 bps |
| Earnings before interest and taxes | $852 million | $1.124 billion | Down 24% |
| Net earnings attributable to Campbell’s | $403 million | $602 million | Down 33% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.31 | $2.01 | Down 35% |
| Operating cash flow | $1.039 billion | $1.131 billion | Down 8% |
| Capital expenditures | $361 million | $426 million | Down 15% |
Meals & Beverages sales declined 4% to $5.928 billion, while Snacks sales declined 6% to $3.816 billion. Segment operating earnings decreased 14% for Meals & Beverages and 28% for Snacks. Results were affected by unfavorable volume and mix, the absence of the prior year’s 53rd week, divestitures, and cost inflation. Favorable pricing and supply-chain productivity partially offset these pressures.
Net earnings included significant items affecting comparability. Fiscal 2026 included $202 million of pre-tax costs associated with cost savings and optimization initiatives, $117 million of trademark impairment charges, $26 million of La Regina acquisition costs, and $14 million of certain litigation expenses. These items reduced after-tax earnings by an aggregate $258 million, or $0.86 per diluted share. Fiscal 2025 included $176 million of trademark impairment charges and $125 million of cost savings and optimization costs, among other items.
Estimated tariff impacts reduced fiscal 2026 earnings by approximately $0.21 per share and contributed approximately 230 basis points of negative gross-margin impact. Interest expense declined to $331 million from $345 million, primarily because of lower debt levels. The effective tax rate declined to 23.4% from 24.4%.
Cash and cash equivalents were $394 million at fiscal year-end, compared with $132 million in the prior year. Current liabilities exceeded current assets by $616 million. Short-term borrowings were $977 million, including $373 million of commercial paper. Total debt was approximately $7.137 billion, consisting of $977 million of short-term borrowings and $6.160 billion of long-term debt. The fair value of total debt was approximately $6.566 billion.
The company had an unused $1.85 billion revolving credit facility, except for $1 million of standby letters of credit. The facility maturity was extended to April 2031 after year-end. The company expects to repay or refinance $500 million of senior notes maturing in March 2027.
Dividends paid were $470 million, and the annual dividend declared was $1.56 per share. On September 3, 2026, after the reporting period, the Board reset the quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share. No share repurchases were made during the final three months of fiscal 2026; approximately $172 million remained under the anti-dilutive program and $301 million under the strategic program.
Material changes versus the prior comparable period
- Sales declined 5%, primarily from unfavorable volume and mix, the prior-year 53rd week, and divestitures; net price realization provided a partial offset.
- Gross margin fell 230 basis points because of inflation, supply-chain costs and tariffs, partly offset by $300 million of supply-chain productivity benefits and favorable pricing.
- Operating earnings declined 19% on a consolidated segment basis, with Snacks particularly affected by lower sales, cost pressures and unfavorable mix.
- Operating cash flow declined $92 million to $1.039 billion, while capital expenditures declined $65 million to $361 million.
- Campbell acquired a 49% interest in La Regina, the producer of all Rao’s tomato-based pasta sauces, for $146 million in cash at closing. A further $140 million is payable on May 4, 2027, at Campbell’s option in cash or unregistered shares. The remaining 51% is subject to put and call options, and Campbell consolidates La Regina as the primary beneficiary of variable-interest entities.
- La Regina added $335 million of goodwill and $304 million of redeemable noncontrolling interests at year-end. Its fiscal 2026 operating results were not material.
- The company recorded $60 million of impairment on the Kettle Brand trademark and $57 million on the Cape Cod trademark. At year-end, $1.225 billion of indefinite-lived trademarks had 10% or less excess fair-value coverage, creating impairment sensitivity.
- Fiscal 2026 cost savings and optimization charges totaled $181 million, bringing cumulative charges under the 2025 program to $285 million. The company reported approximately $225 million of program-to-date pre-tax savings.
Guidance, outlook, commentary and risks
Management did not provide a clear numerical fiscal 2027 sales, earnings or EPS guidance in the filing text. Management expects inflation and input-cost volatility to persist in fiscal 2027, driven primarily by tariffs, logistics costs and geopolitical conflicts. Planned mitigations include cost savings, supplier collaboration, alternative sourcing, inventory management, supply-chain productivity and selective pricing.
Campbell expects approximately $300 million of fiscal 2027 capital expenditures, including approximately $50 million for the Napoleon, Ohio wastewater-treatment facility, approximately $5 million for other wastewater initiatives, and approximately $10 million for environmental compliance.
On September 3, 2026, the company announced a new cost savings program. Identified pre-tax costs are approximately $90 million through 2030, plus approximately $10 million of capital expenditures. Management expects the program to generate approximately $500 million of annual ongoing savings by the end of 2030, although plans and estimates remain subject to further development.
Principal risks include tariff and geopolitical exposure, commodity and supply-chain inflation, weaker consumer demand and private-label competition, customer concentration, execution of cost savings and acquisitions, high leverage and refinancing requirements, potential impairment of goodwill or trademarks, food-safety and product-liability matters, regulation of ingredients and labeling, cybersecurity incidents, labor availability, climate and weather impacts, and litigation involving the Snacks independent-contractor distribution model.
The company is defending lawsuits concerning alleged Clean Water Act violations at its Napoleon, Ohio wastewater facility. Management is in settlement discussions and does not currently expect the matter to have a material adverse effect, but the amount and timing of any civil penalty are uncertain. Campbell also guarantees approximately 4,600 bank loans to independent contractor distributors, with a maximum potential payment obligation of $598 million; recognized liabilities were not material.
Management and PricewaterhouseCoopers concluded that the company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting. La Regina was excluded from management’s and the auditor’s internal-control assessment because it was acquired during fiscal 2026; the entities represented approximately 3% of consolidated assets and less than 1% of consolidated net sales.
Most important facts for investors to verify
- Whether tariffs, inflation, logistics costs and geopolitical events continue to pressure gross margin and whether pricing can offset those costs without further volume loss.
- The company’s ability to stabilize Snacks sales and avoid additional impairment charges, particularly for trademarks with limited excess fair-value coverage.
- Progress toward the announced $500 million of annual savings by 2030, including the timing and cash costs of the programs.
- How Campbell will fund or refinance the $500 million senior-note maturity in March 2027 while maintaining dividends and other capital requirements.
- The cash or share settlement of the $140 million La Regina deferred consideration and the potential future exercise of La Regina’s put and Campbell’s call options.
- Customer concentration and exposure to Walmart, private-label competition and changing retail channels.
- Developments in the Napoleon wastewater litigation, food and labeling regulation, independent-contractor litigation, and cybersecurity risks.
- The effect of the dividend reset to $0.25 per quarter on shareholder returns and capital allocation.