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        <title><![CDATA[Hershey pulls 2020 forecast as sales weaken amid coronavirus]]></title>
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        <link>https://usagag.com/2020/04/23/hershey-pulls-2020-forecast-as-sales-weaken-amid-coronavirus/</link>
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            <media:title type="html">Hershey pulls 2020 forecast as sales weaken amid coronavirus</media:title>
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        <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hershey pulled its 2020 forecast on Thursday and warned of weak sales in certain categories as households worried about their financial futures cut spending on snacks and chocolates.</p><p>The company said sales of products, including SkinnyPop popcorn and Pirate’s Booty rice and corn puffs, had slowed in recent weeks, after rising in double digits in March, when <strong>consumers stockpiled food</strong> and other essentials ahead of lockdowns to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.</p><p>“A significant number of American households are not working and experiencing meaningful financial pressures,” Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck said on a post-earnings call.</p><p>“All of this has impacted traffic into stores, length of time in stores and the amount of discretionary goods people are purchasing.”</p><p>A record <strong>26 million Americans sought unemployment benefits</strong> over the last five weeks, confirming that all the jobs created during the longest employment boom in US history were wiped out in about a month as the coronavirus forces companies to release or furlough employees.</p><p>The kisses chocolate maker also said social distancing practices have also hit gum and mint sales that are usually sold at the checkout counters, while demand for baking products soared.</p><p>Hershey’s net sales rose 1 percent, to $2.04 billion, in the first quarter ended March 29, but fell short of the average analyst estimate of $2.08 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv data.</p><p>Sales from its North American market rose 2.1 percent, its second-lowest sales growth in two years, while those from China fell 46.7 percent as the world’s second-largest economy imposed weeks-long lockdown because of the coronavirus. Sales in India, Mexico and Brazil, some of its bigger markets, also fell.</p><p>Excluding certain items, Hershey earned $1.63 per share, missing analysts’ average estimate of $1.71 per share.</p><p>Shares of the company were down about 5 percent during early afternoon trading, at $136.07.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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