Campbell Soup shares close higher on Wednesday, company projects a drop in full-year 2021 sales

Campbell Soup Co said on Wednesday that it forecast a drop in its full-year 2021 sales, as the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines will probably prompt customers to return to restaurants while diminishing their reliance on ready-to-eat soups and snacks.

Campbell Soup said it now expected a drop of between 2.5% and 3.5% in its fiscal 2021 sales.

Campbell Soup shares closed higher for the sixth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Wednesday. It has also been the sharpest single-session gain since January 27th. The stock went up 2.02% ($0.95) to $47.88, after touching an intraday high at $48.66, or a price level not seen since January 29th ($50.10).

Shares of Campbell Soup Company have retreated 0.97% so far in 2021 compared with a 3.80% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, Campbell Soup’s stock went down 2.17%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.

Campbell Soup Co’s net sales were reported to have surged 5.4% year-on-year to $2.28 billion during the fiscal second quarter. Yet, revenue fell short of market consensus of $2.30 billion.

Meanwhile, net income attributable to the shareholders was reported at $245 million ($0.80 per share) during the second quarter ended on January 31st, down from $1.21 billion ($3.97 per share) in the year-ago period.