Campbell’s Co (NASDAQ:CPB) stock fell 3.94% (As on December 9, 11:42:50 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company beat expectations for first-quarter results, as the packaged-food maker benefitted from price hikes and steady demand for its sauces and condiments. Persistent inflation and tariff-related volatility have led to shoppers stocking up on pantry staples to cook meals rather than splurging on dining out. Campbell’s has selectively raised prices to counter higher raw material costs related to tariffs, even as it risks losing consumers to lower-priced alternatives. Campbell’s separately announced it will acquire 49% of the privately held Rao’s sauces partner, La Regina SPA, for $286 million. This comes a year after it bought Rao’s Homemade’s owner, Sovos Brands, for $2.33 billion. The latest stake acquisition is expected to close in the second half of fiscal 2026.

Meanwhile, New Jersey-based Campbell’s previously said it would remove synthetic dyes from its portfolio of food and drinks from the second half of its current fiscal year, as part of a bid to both respond to consumer preferences for healthier items and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. Instead, the maker of items like Goldfish crackers and V8 Splash pledged to use natural colors from sources like annatto and purple carrot juice. Meals and beverages price and sales allowances grew by 1%. Campbell’s has said it would raise prices on some items and institute cost savings to mitigate about 60% of the impact from sweeping U.S. tariffs. The levies, which are seen accounting for about 4% of cost of goods sold in the fiscal 2026 period, have also caused some broader economic uncertainty that has threatened to weigh on consumer spending activity. Recent data has suggested that U.S. households have been resilient to these potential headwinds, however.

CPB in the first quarter of FY26 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 77 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 73 cents. The company had reported the adjusted revenue decline of 3 percent to $2.68 billion in the first quarter of FY26, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.66 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Campbell’s reaffirmed its full-year fiscal 2026 guidance for between a 1% fall and 1% increase in organic net sales, and a decline of 18% to 12% in earnings per share to $2.40 and $2.55.