General Mills Inc. GIS, -1.26% shares rose 1.7% in Wednesday premarket trading after the food company reported fiscal first-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations. Net income totaled $627 million, or $1.02 per share, down from $638.9 million, or $1.03 per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of 99 cents beat the FactSet consensus for 89 cents. Sales of $4.54 billion were up from $4.36 billion last year and also ahead of the FactSet consensus for $4.30 billion. “General Mills expects changes in consumer behaviors driven by the COVID-19 pandemic will result in ongoing elevated consumer demand for food at home, relative to pre-pandemic levels,” the company said in its earnings release. Changes include working from home, more cooking and baking and a bigger pet population with consumers spending more on pet food. General Mills brands include Cheerios, Yoplait yogurt and newly-acquired pet product brands Nudges and True Chews. For fiscal 2022, General Mills is guiding for organic net sales growth at the higher end of its previous outlook in the range of a 1%-to-3% decline. General Mills stock has slipped 1.3% for the year to date while the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.08% has gained nearly 16%.
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