Beyond Meat Inc posted better-than-expected quarterly sales on Tuesday, but suspended its 2020 forecast as the COVID-19 pandemic hit demand for the company's plant-based meat products at restaurants. Closure of dine-in areas and restrictions on movement put in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus have severely dented sales at restaurants, including Beyond Meat's restaurant partners McDonald's Inc, Dunkin Brands Group Inc and Starbucks Corp and have forced them to rethink how to service customers through limited operations. Beyond Meat Chief Executive Officer Ethan Brown told Reuters on Tuesday that food service sales in March were about 23% lower than what the company had expected, while sales at retail outlets were up 12%.

The Hershey Company (HSY) today announced that it is committing $1 million to acquire, install and staff a new manufacturing line dedicated to the production of facemasks. “Supporting our communities in difficult times is part of our legacy, and an important value that our current employees share,” said Michele Buck, President and CEO. “Disposable masks will be an integral piece of protecting the health and safety of our employees, their families and our community as we move forward over the weeks and months ahead,” said Jason Reiman, Chief Supply Chain Officer.

Sonoma Brands, a private-equity investor in emerging brands led by Jon Sebastiani, has bought back the Krave brand of jerky from Hershey Co. , the group announced on Monday. Sebastiani, who started his career in the family wine business, is also founder of the Krave brand. Krave launched in 2009 and Hershey purchased it in 2015. Krave products include beef and pork jerky, pork rinds and plant-based jerky. Hershey recently reported an earnings miss, and says consumers are buying fewer snacks and sweets as the coronavirus pandemic drives up unemployment. During the earnings call, Chief Executive Michelle Buck said the company seeks to divest not just the Krave brand, but also the Scharffen Berger and Dagoba chocolate brands "in order to better prioritize resources against assets that fit our business model and scale capabilities," according to a FactSet transcript. Hershey stock is up 8% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is down 4.2% for the period.

Scientists tell us that chocolate consumption encourages our brains to release feel-good endorphins, like when you're falling in love. Since The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) makes several chocolate products that are delicious, and it recently released its first-quarter earnings report, it seems like the right time to evaluate the stock to see if the chocolate will keep coming. Hershey's management said that pre-pandemic, expectations were fully on track for both the first quarter and full year.

The Hershey Company (HSY) announced today that it is offering to sell notes in a public offering (the “Notes Offering”). The Hershey Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Notes Offering to repay a portion of the commercial paper it has issued, pay fees and expenses related to the offering and for general corporate purposes. A registration statement relating to the Notes Offering has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and is effective.

Personally I have done my part in consuming more (or actually too much) chocolate in this stay at home environment. In the daily bar chart of HSY, below, we can see that prices lost about 30% of their value in the pandemic selloff. Trading volume increased into the March nadir but it did not seem to reach what I would consider capitulation level.

"A significant number of American households are not working and experiencing meaningful financial pressures," Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck said on a post-earnings call. The kisses chocolate maker also said social distancing practices have also hit gum and mint sales that are usually sold at the checkout counters, while demand for baking products soared. Hershey's net sales rose 1% to $2.04 billion in the first quarter ended March 29, but fell short of the average analyst estimate of $2.08 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv data.

HERSHEY, Pa., May 27, 2020 -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) announced today the pricing of its offering of $300,000,000 of 0.900% notes due 2025, $350,000,000 of 1.700% notes.

The company, the maker of Ice Breakers and Kisses, said its second-quarter performance would also be impacted due to a decline in its food service business and stunted candy sales at airports and stores. "We have also experienced a decrease in retail foot traffic and volatility in consumer shopping and consumption behavior across several areas of our portfolio, which has negatively impacted sales of our portable and on-the-go consumption products," the company said in a filing http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/47111/000004711120000027/0000047111-20-000027-index.htm. Hershey has for long been betting on its nutritious and on-the-go snack portfolio, a hit with health-conscious consumers who would pick up protein bars before heading to work.

The Hershey Company (HSY) today announced an expansion of its Cocoa For Good program, committing to 100% direct-sourced cocoa in high-risk areas by 2025, which will include all of its cocoa sourced by its suppliers from Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. This expanded commitment will make Hershey’s cocoa from these countries traceable from the farm to the first point of purchase, giving Hershey a clear line of sight into where all of its cocoa from West Africa is grown and how it is produced – providing more transparency for consumers and all stakeholders. In 2012, as part of the company’s long-standing efforts to create more sustainable cocoa communities, Hershey committed to sourcing 100% certified and sustainable cocoa by 2020 – a goal it reached in January 2020.

HERSHEY, Pa., May 18, 2020 -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) today announced the election of Victor L. Crawford to its board of directors. Crawford is the newest Hershey board.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 rose above 353,000 on Wednesday, as the World Health Organization said the Americas are at the center of the pandemic following surges in infections in Brazil, Peru, Chile and others in the past few days.

Q1 2020 Hershey Co Earnings Call

Impulse purchases - gum, mints and snack bars tossed into a shopping basket as one snakes through the supermarket checkout line - are falling as more people get groceries delivered or pick them up curbside. U.S. sales of mints are down 30 percent year-on-year at stores tracked by market researcher Nielsen in the 11 weeks ending on May 16, while sales of gum are down 28 percent. The pandemic has prompted many people to switch to online grocery shopping rather than visiting stores, where snacks and other so-called "impulse purchases" are placed strategically near checkout lines.

The Hershey Co. said Wednesday it's planning a bond deal to raise the funds to repay a portion of its commercial paper program. The chocolate maker did not offer any details of size or pricing. Shares were not yet active premarket, but have fallen 13% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has fallen 7%.

Much like the chocolate-eating public, Hershey Co. is feeling the pinch from soaring unemployment, with the snacks-and-sweets company reporting sharp sales declines in recent weeks after an initial bump in the wake of the lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

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Hershey (HSY) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.

Moody's Investors Service, ("Moody's") today assigned A1 ratings to The Hershey Company's ("Hershey") planned $1 billion senior unsecured notes with tenors of 5, 10 and 30 years. Hershey's A1 credit profile is supported by its stable demand that supports sizeable free cash flows through business cycles, strong brand portfolio and leading position in the U.S. chocolate confectionary market, good liquidity, strong profit margins, and conservative financial policy. The rating is constrained by some product and geographic concentration, certain challenges in its efforts to expand internationally, and an elevated leverage resulting from the 2018 acquisitions of Amplify Snack Brands, Inc. and Pirate brands in 2018 as well as ONE brands in 2019.

April 28 (Reuters) - Oreo cookie maker Mondelez International Inc withdrew its 2020 outlook on Tuesday, citing the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.