Sysco Corporation (SYY), headquartered in Houston, Texas, sells, markets, and distributes food products to restaurants, healthcare, educational facilities, lodging establishments, and other customers who prepare meals away from home. Valued at $35.46 billion by market cap, the company’s products include equipment and supplies for the food service and hospitality industries. It operates 334 distribution facilities worldwide and serves approximately 725,000 customer locations. The foodservice leader is expected to announce its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings for 2024 before the market opens on Tuesday, Jul. 30.
Ahead of the event, analysts expect SYY to report a profit of $1.38 per share on a diluted basis, up 3% from $1.34 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has consistently surpassed Wall Street’s EPS estimates in its last four quarterly reports. During the previous quarter, SYY returned about $753 million to shareholders via $500 million of share repurchases and $253 million of dividends.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect SYY to report EPS of $4.30, up 7.2% from $4.01 in fiscal 2023.
SYY stock has underperformed the S&P 500’s ($SPX) 18.2% gains over the past 52 weeks, with shares down 4.5% during this period. Similarly, it underperformed the S&P 500 Cons Staples Sector SPDR (XLP) 2.4% gains over the same time frame.
On Apr. 30, SYY shares closed down more than 3% after the company reported its Q3 results. Its sales of $19.40 billion fell short of the consensus estimates of $19.73 billion. Its adjusted EPS was $0.96, beating Wall Street estimates of $0.95. The company was optimistic about its 5% to 10% full-year adjusted EPS growth of between $4.20 and $4.40. SYY raised cost-out targets for fiscal 2024 from $100 million to $120 million. Since its Q3 results were reported, SYY shares have been in a downtrend.
Analysts’ consensus opinion on SYY stock is bullish, with a “Strong Buy” rating overall. Out of 15 analysts covering the stock, 11 advise a “Strong Buy” rating, and four recommend a “Hold.” The average analyst price target for SYY is $84.92, indicating a 17.7% potential upside from the current levels.
On the date of publication, Dipanjan Banchur did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.