Berry Global Q3: Earnings Miss, Lower Volumes, Structural Cost Improvements & More

Berry Global Group, Inc. BERY reported a third-quarter FY23 sales decline of 13.3% year-on-year to $3.23 billion, missing the consensus of $3.42 billion.

The net sales decline is primarily attributed to decreased selling prices of $250 million due to the pass-through of lower resin costs and a 7% volume decline. 

The volume decline is primarily attributed to softer demand in consumer and industrial markets, including destocking.

Operating income fell 20.5% Y/Y $267 million. Adjusted Operating EBITDA fell 5% to $522 million.

Adjusted EPS of $1.90 missed the analyst consensus of $1.98.

The company held $633 million in cash and equivalents as of the quarter end.

Berry's Chairman and CEO Tom Salmon shared, "Furthermore, and in line with this commitment, we expect to repurchase nearly 3 million shares, or 2.5% of our total shares outstanding, during our fourth fiscal quarter. Looking ahead, we expect a transition to a more normal operating environment with the easing of inflationary pressures on consumers, and we anticipate sequential volume growth improvement across all four segments in the fourth fiscal quarter."

Berry's quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share is payable on September 15, 2023, to stockholders of record as of September 1, 2023.

Outlook: Berry sees an FY23 adjusted EPS of $7.30, against the consensus of $7.38 (Prior View: $7.30 - $7.80).

The company anticipates returning at least $700 million of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

Price Action: BERY shares are trading higher by 2.66% at $63.18 on the last check Wednesday.