(Reuters) -Packaged food maker Kellanova on Wednesday beat third-quarter sales estimates as consumers snapped up its Cheez-It crackers and Pringles snacks despite higher prices.
Shares of the company, formerly called Kellogg, rose 3% in premarket trading as it also forecast current-quarter net sales in line with Wall Street expectations.
Major packaged food companies like Kraft Heinz, Campbell Soup and Mondelez have grown margins through prices hikes on their quick-fix meals, snacks and chocolates, but there have been early signs of consumer pushback.
Kellanova’s overall volumes declined 5.6% in the reported quarter.
Still, the increased prices helped drive its adjusted gross margin to 33.2% from 30.8% last year.
Early in October, Kellogg Company completed the spin-off of its North American cereal business into a new standalone entity called WK Kellogg, and renamed itself to Kellanova, in a move to sharpen focus on each division.
Kellanova posted net sales of $3.94 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, beating analysts’ average expectation of $3.62 billion, according to LSEG data.
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
