General Mills Stock (GIS): Prime Buying Opportunity Before Earnings Drop?

Wall Street’s snack obsession faces a reality check as GIS preps its earnings report. Will this consumer staples giant deliver—or crumble under inflation’s weight?

The Bull Case: Shelf-Stable Safety

Food stocks thrive in volatility. With recession whispers growing louder, pantry-loading could spike GIS sales. Their Cheerios-to-Haagen-Dazs portfolio isn’t sexy, but hunger never goes out of style.

The Bear Trap: Commodity Cost Hangover

Remember when wheat prices mooned? Neither do most analysts—but GIS’s balance sheet hasn’t forgotten. If margins compress further, shareholders might need stronger stomachs than their cereal customers.

The Cynic’s Take

Another ‘defensive play’ trading at 20x earnings? Please. This isn’t 2020’s lockdown panic. Unless GIS starts accepting SNAP benefits as dividend payments, the upside’s as exciting as unsalted saltines.

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Starting with Wall Street’s estimates, General Mills is expected to report earnings per share of 71 cents alongside revenue of $4.59 billion. The company is likely to surpass EPS estimates, as it has done so all eight of its most recent quarters. Its chances of beating analysts’ revenue estimates are mixed, with it having done so in four of its eight latest quarters.

Recent GIS Analyst Updates & Stock Movement

A few analysts have updated their coverage of General Mills in the lead-up to its Q4 earnings report.

• Five-star Evercore ISI analyst David Palmer reiterated a Hold rating and lowered his price target to $59 from $65, implying a 10.9% upside.
• TD Securities analysts also maintained a Hold rating and cut their price target to $52 from $50, suggesting a 6.02% downside.
• RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi kept a Hold rating and $67 price target, representing a possible 25.94% upside.

Investor morale is subdued ahead of the General Mills earnings report. This has GIS stock down 0.43% as of Tuesday morning. That extends a 14.8% drop year-to-date and a 20.5% decrease over the past 12 months. Trading volume is also low today at 1.49 million shares, compared to a three-month daily average of 4.76 million units.

Is General Mills Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?

Turning to Wall Street, the analysts’ consensus rating for General Mills is Hold, based on one Buy, 10 Hold, and a single Sell rating over the past three months. With that comes an average GIS stock price target of $57.08, representing a potential 7.35% upside for the shares.