- Company name
- The Campbell's Company
- Sector
- Packaged foods
- About
- The Campbell's Company, renamed from Campbell Soup Company in November 2024, sells packaged food across two segments. Meals & Beverages, about 61% of fiscal 2026 sales, includes Campbell's condensed and ready-to-serve soups, Prego pasta sauce, Pace, V8, Swanson broth, Pacific Foods, and Rao's premium Italian sauces, added through the 2024 purchase of Sovos Brands. Snacks, the rest of sales, includes Pepperidge Farm (Goldfish crackers, Milano cookies), Snyder's of Hanover pretzels, Cape Cod chips, Kettle Brand, Lance, and Late July, most of it added through the 2018 purchase of Snyder's-Lance. Almost all sales are in the United States, with a smaller international business selling mostly in Canada, Latin America, and Asia. In May 2026, Campbell's paid $286 million for a 49% stake in La Regina, the Italian company that makes all of Rao's tomato-based sauces, tying its supply chain more closely to its fastest-growing premium brand. The company earns its moat from decades-old brand recognition and shelf space at large grocery chains, which makes it hard for a new entrant to displace it.
- Thesis
- Campbell's is priced for a real, ongoing decline, not just a rough patch. Both sales and earnings fell in fiscal 2026. Management's own fiscal 2027 guidance calls for another drop. To fund a turnaround, the board cut the dividend, closed two snack plants, and cut about 550 jobs. Two rating agencies downgraded Campbell's debt within the past year, and both keep a negative outlook. For the gap to close, the new $500 million cost-savings plan must show up in results. Rao's and Goldfish, two of its brands, need to keep growing. The snacks business also needs to stabilize once the smaller plant footprint and lower headcount are fully in place. Campbell's decades-old brands and shelf space with big retailers have helped it survive weak stretches before. Management itself does not expect margins to recover until fiscal 2028, so this is not a quick fix. Leverage stays high for now, near 4.9 times adjusted earnings, leaving little room for a setback. If the turnaround holds through fiscal 2027 results and into fiscal 2028, the gap could close by then. If leverage worsens or Rao's growth stalls, the discount could persist or widen.
- Risks
- Leverage remains elevated even after the dividend cut. Moody's put adjusted leverage at about 4.9 times at fiscal year-end 2026, and both Moody's (to Baa3) and Fitch (to BBB-) downgraded Campbell's within the past year, each keeping a negative outlook. Less room to absorb a setback than a less-levered company.
The Snacks segment (Pepperidge Farm, Snyder's-Lance brands) is the weak spot: organic sales fell 4% and segment operating earnings fell 28% in fiscal 2026. Closing two plants and cutting 13% of salaried staff is a real bet that this turnaround works; it is not yet proven out.
Management's own fiscal 2027 guidance calls for a second straight year of decline: net sales down 2%-4% and adjusted earnings per share down 17%-24% to $1.65-$1.80. The turnaround is not expected to show up in results until fiscal 2028.
The 36% dividend cut signals real cash-flow strain, not just caution. It may push income-focused shareholders to sell, and there is less cushion if the company needs to cut the payout again.
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, tariffs (about 4% of fiscal 2026 cost of goods sold), and commodity and logistics inflation projected at 5%-6% and double digits, respectively, for fiscal 2027 all pressure volumes and margins at the same time.
The turnaround depends on a still-new leadership team: CEO Mick Beekhuizen has led the company since February 2025, and CFO Todd Cunfer joined in October 2025. It also leans on the $286 million bet that La Regina keeps Rao's, its fastest-growing brand, supplied and growing.
Private-label competition and a longer-term shift toward fresh and "better-for-you" foods could permanently shrink demand for legacy soup and snack brands, independent of any near-term turnaround.
- Balance sheet
- Campbell's uses mostly fixed-rate senior unsecured notes of the parent company. It issued them to buy Snyder's-Lance in 2018 and Sovos Brands in 2024. At August 2, 2026, debt was $7.14 billion: $6.16 billion of long-term debt and $977 million due within one year. The amount due within one year includes $373 million of commercial paper and $500 million of 5.20% notes due March 19, 2027. About $105 million is debt of La Regina, the Rao's sauce maker that Campbell's consolidates, and only La Regina is liable for it. Cash was $394 million. Thus net debt of about $6.7 billion was about 5.3 times fiscal 2026 reported EBITDA of about $1.27 billion. Moody's put adjusted leverage at about 4.9 times. Reported EBIT covered interest expense of $331 million only about 2.6 times. On September 23, 2026, Moody's cut Campbell's to Baa3 from Baa2 with a negative outlook. It also cut the commercial paper rating to Prime-3, which makes commercial paper harder and more costly to use. Fitch rates Campbell's BBB- after a cut on December 10, 2025. Liquidity rests on the undrawn $1.85 billion revolving credit facility, now extended to April 16, 2031. On October 5, 2026, Campbell's issued $300 million of 8.500% junior subordinated notes due 2057 to repay debt, including the 2027 notes and commercial paper. This debt costs more than its senior notes. The facility requires EBITDA of at least 3.25 times interest expense. Free cash flow of $678 million in fiscal 2026 covered the $470 million dividend. The 36% dividend cut frees about $170 million a year for debt reduction. But the company is one notch above junk at Moody's. It has little room for buybacks, deals or another drop in profit.
As of 2026-08-02.
- Checkpoints
- Dec 3, 2026 (estimate): Fiscal Q1 2027 earnings: Snacks trend and guidance. Pending. Watch: Results on track for adjusted EPS of $1.65 to $1.80 with Snacks declines slowing pass; a guidance cut or another big Snacks profit drop fails.
Mar 19, 2027: $500 million notes mature at a Baa3 rating. Pending. Watch: Repayment or refinancing at a normal spread, with net debt lower than at August 2, 2026, passes; costly new debt or a draw on the revolver fails.
Mar 2027 (estimate): Fiscal Q2 2027 earnings: cost savings and Rao's growth. Pending. Watch: Visible savings from the $500 million program and Rao's still growing pass; flat Rao's sales or higher leverage fails.
Sep 2027 (estimate): Fiscal 2027 results and fiscal 2028 outlook. Pending. Watch: Moody's-style leverage near 4 times and an outlook for margin recovery in fiscal 2028 pass; leverage still near 5 times or a new rating cut fails.
- Recent events
- 2026-10-05: Campbell's issued $300 million of 8.500% junior subordinated notes due 2057. The rate is fixed until April 5, 2032, then resets every five years, but never below 8.500%. Campbell's can defer interest for up to 10 years at a time. Moody's rates the notes Ba1, below investment grade. Campbell's plans to use the money to repay debt, including the notes due in 2027 and commercial paper.
2026-09-23: Moody's downgraded Campbell's long-term rating to Baa3 from Baa2, citing weak fiscal 2026 earnings, expected further declines in fiscal 2027, and adjusted leverage of about 4.9 times at fiscal year-end. The outlook stays negative.
2026-09-03: Campbell's reported fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2026 results. Q4 net sales fell 8% to $2.1 billion (down 1% organically). Full-year net sales fell 5% to $9.7 billion, and adjusted earnings per share fell 27% to $2.17.
2026-09-03: Management guided fiscal 2027 net sales down 2%-4% and adjusted earnings per share down 17%-24%, to $1.65-$1.80. The board cut the quarterly dividend 36%, to $0.25 per share ($1.00 annualized), to speed up debt paydown.
2026-09-03: Campbell's launched a new cost-savings program targeting $500 million by fiscal 2030, cut roughly 550 jobs (about 13% of its salaried workforce), and closed two snack plants.
2026-05-04: Campbell's completed its $286 million purchase of a 49% stake in La Regina, the Italian producer that makes all of Rao's Homemade tomato-based sauces.
2025-12-10: Fitch downgraded Campbell's long-term rating to BBB- from BBB, citing leverage expected to stay above 3.5 times for an extended period.
2025-10-20: Todd Cunfer, previously Chief Financial Officer of Freshpet, became Campbell's CFO, succeeding Carrie Anderson.