Elgin, IL, Oct. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ: JBSS) (the “Company”) today announced financial results for its fiscal 2026 first quarter ended September 25, 2025.

First Quarter Summary

• Net sales increased $22.5 million, or 8.1%, to $298.7 million
• Sales volume decreased 0.6 million pounds, or 0.7%, to 90.5 million pounds
• Gross profit increased 16.2% to $54.1 million
• Diluted EPS increased 59% to $1.59 per share

CEO Commentary

“We began the fiscal year with strong momentum, continuing to execute our Long-Range Plan with discipline and focus. In this quarter, we delivered a 59% improvement in diluted earnings per share, underscoring the strength of our strategy, improvements in our commercial ingredients and contract manufacturing businesses and our relentless focus on generating operational efficiencies throughout our business. We have seen directional improvement in sales volume over the past three quarters, signaling progress in stabilizing our overall demand. These results were achieved in a challenging snack food environment, as consumer behavior continues to evolve in response to broader macroeconomic shifts. Our achievements reflect the hard work and commitment of our employees, whose contributions remain vital to our continued success,” stated Jeffrey T. Sanfilippo, Chief Executive Officer.

First Quarter Results

Net Sales
Net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 increased by $22.5 million, or 8.1%, to $298.7 million. This increase was primarily driven by an 8.9% increase in the weighted average selling price per pound, which was partially offset by a 0.7% decline in sales volume (pounds sold to customers).   The increase in the weighted average selling price per pound was largely attributable to significantly higher commodity acquisition costs for all major tree nuts. Sales volume decreased for all major product types, except for peanuts, walnuts, and pecans, all of which experienced volume growth in the quarter.

Sales Volume

Consumer Distribution Channel -5.1%
This sales volume decrease was primarily driven by a 3.2% reduction in private brand sales volume, with approximately half of the decrease due to the discontinuation of peanut butter at a mass merchandiser. The remaining private brand sales volume decrease was nearly evenly split between nut and trail mix and bars. Nut and trail mix sales volume was negatively impacted by higher retail prices and reduced promotional activity, which was partially offset by new business and expanded distribution at three existing customers. Bar sales volume declined due to a strategic reduction in sales to one grocery retailer and lost distribution to another, which was partially offset by growth at a mass merchandiser and at a current customer. On the branded side, lost distribution of Orchard Valley Harvest at a major customer in the non-food sector also contributed to the overall decline in the consumer distribution channel.

Commercial Ingredients Distribution Channel +12.8%
This sales volume increase was mainly driven by new business with two customers, higher peanut butter volume at existing food service customers and increased sales of peanut crushing stock to peanut oil processors.

Contract Manufacturing Distribution Channel +18.4%
This sales volume increase was driven by increased granola sales volume and increased snack nut sales to another customer added during the second quarter of the prior year. These increases were partially offset by lower peanut and peanut butter sales volume to a major customer.

Gross Profit
Gross profit increased $7.6 million to $54.1 million and gross profit margin increased to 18.1% of net sales from 16.9% of net sales in the prior year’s first quarter. This improvement was primarily driven by higher net sales during the quarter, with selling prices more closely aligned with commodity acquisition costs compared to the first quarter of the prior year. Additionally, the prior year first quarter included a one-time price concession to a bar customer that did not recur this quarter.  

Operating Expenses, net
Total operating expenses decreased $2.5 million in the quarterly comparison, primarily driven by lower marketing and insights spending, reduced third-party warehouse costs, lower third-party recruitment expenses and decreased freight costs. These decreases were partially offset by an increase in incentive compensation expense. As a percentage of net sales, total operating expenses decreased to 9.1% from 10.7% in the prior comparable quarter, driven by the factors noted above and a higher net sales base.

Inventory
The value of total inventories on hand at the end of the current first quarter increased $40.2 million, or 20.6%. The increase was driven by higher commodity acquisition costs across all major tree nuts as well as greater on-hand quantities of finished goods due to lower-than-forecasted back-to-school demand for bars and preparation for anticipated holiday seasonal demand. The weighted average cost per pound of raw nut and dried fruit input stock on hand increased 24.8% year over year mainly due to higher acquisition costs for all major tree nuts.

In closing, Mr. Sanfilippo commented, “As we look ahead, we will continue to build on the momentum we have generated in this quarter by staying focused on three key priorities: growing our sales volume, delivering best-in-class service and value to our customers, and driving ongoing improvements in profitability. These efforts are foundational to our strategy and will enable us to deliver long-term value to our shareholders. While the current quarter’s EPS results were strong, sustaining this quarter’s level of EPS improvement for the remainder of the 2026 fiscal year may be challenging due to an uncertain macroeconomic environment and current trends in the snack food market. That said, we remain confident in our direction and committed to building on our progress.”

Conference Call
The Company will host an investor conference call and webcast on Thursday, October 30, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern (9:00 a.m. Central) to discuss these results. To register for the call, please click on the Participant Registration by register using this link. After registering, an email will be sent, including dial-in details and a unique access code required to join the live call. This call is also being webcast by Notified and can be accessed at the Company’s website at www.jbssinc.com.

About John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc.
Based in Elgin, Illinois, John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. is a processor, packager, marketer and distributor of nut and dried fruit products, bars, and dried cheese snacks, that are sold under the Company’s Fisher ®, Orchard Valley Harvest ®, Squirrel Brand ®, Southern Style Nuts ® and Just the Cheese ® brand names and under a variety of private brands.

Upcoming Event
The Company will be presenting at the Southwest IDEAS conference in Dallas, Texas on November 19, 2025. Qualified investors that would like to schedule a meeting with management should contact Three Part Advisors at the phone number below.

Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this release are forward-looking. These forward-looking statements may be generally identified by the use of forward-looking words and phrases such as “will”, “intends”, “may”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “should” and “expects” and are based on the Company’s current expectations or beliefs concerning future events and involve risks and uncertainties. Consequently, the Company’s actual results could differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or other factors that affect the subject of these statements, except where expressly required to do so by law. Among the factors that could cause results to differ materially from current expectations are: (i) sales activity for the Company’s products, such as a decline in sales to one or more key customers, or to customers or in the nut and bars categories generally, in some or all channels, a change in product mix to lower price products, a decline in sales of private brand products or changing consumer preferences, including a shift from higher margin products to lower margin products; (ii) changes in the availability and costs of raw materials and ingredients due to tariffs and other import restrictions and the impact of fixed price commitments with customers; (iii) the ability to pass on price increases to customers if commodity costs rise and the potential for a negative impact on demand for, and sales of, our products from price increases; (iv) the ability to measure and estimate bulk inventory, fluctuations in the value and quantity of the Company’s nut inventories due to fluctuations in the market prices of nuts and bulk inventory estimation adjustments, respectively; (v) the Company’s ability to appropriately respond to, or lessen the negative impact of, competitive and pricing pressures; (vi) losses associated with product recalls, product contamination, food labeling or other food safety issues, or the potential for lost sales or product liability if customers lose confidence in the safety of the Company’s products or in nuts or nut products in general, or are harmed as a result of using the Company’s products; (vii) the ability of the Company to control costs (including inflationary costs) and manage shortages or other disruptions in areas such as inputs, transportation and labor; (viii) uncertainty in economic conditions, including the potential for inflation or economic downturn leading to decreased consumer demand; (ix) the timing and occurrence (or nonoccurrence) of other transactions and events which may be subject to circumstances beyond the Company’s control; (x) the adverse effect of labor unrest or disputes, litigation and/or legal settlements, including potential unfavorable outcomes exceeding any amounts accrued; (xi) losses due to significant disruptions at any of our production or processing facilities, our inability to meet or fulfill customer orders on a timely basis, if at all, or employee unavailability due to labor shortages; (xii) the ability to implement our Long-Range Plan, including growing our branded and private brand product sales, diversifying our product offerings (including by the launch of new products) and expanding into alternative sales channels; (xiii) technology disruptions or failures or the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents or breaches; (xiv) the inability to protect the Company’s brand value, intellectual property or avoid intellectual property disputes; and (xv) our ability to manage the impacts of changing weather patterns on raw material availability due to climate change.

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JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
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(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

JOHN B. SANFILIPPO & SON, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
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(Dollars in thousands)