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Chocolate and confectionery maker (Hershey, Reese's, Kisses) that also owns salty snack brands like SkinnyPop.
Chocolate and confectionery maker (Hershey, Reese's, Kisses) that also owns salty snack brands like SkinnyPop.
Sells through grocery chains, mass merchants, convenience stores and checkout aisles, so seasonal holidays such as Halloween, Easter and Valentine's carry much of the year. Chocolate and candy remain the core of earnings, with salty snacks bought to diversify. The Hershey Trust, which funds a school for children in need, controls the company through shares with extra votes.
Moat: narrow (brand, distribution). Dominant North American chocolate brand and impulse-channel distribution, though cocoa costs squeeze margins.
Headquarters: Hershey, Pennsylvania, US · Founded: 1894 · Employees: 19,595
Size Hershey Company (The) (HSY) is a United States Consumer Staples company (Food: Specialty/Candy) with a market value of $35.8B, the 321st largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $178.08 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares fell 3.5%, against -6.0% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 5th highest of 11 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 6.7% over the last twelve months (peer median +6.3%); the operating margin is 20.4% (peer median 16.8%).
Valuation It trades at 19.2× forward earnings against a peer median of 26.5× (4th cheapest of 11).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about -5% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +7%, so the hurdle is -12 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 14.3 points above its cost of capital (6.2% WACC).
Credit Hershey Company (The) has 12 bonds outstanding ($4.64B), rated A by the agencies and trading like AA+ at a weighted spread of 51 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 6.0% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 4 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.3B | $11.7B | $11.2B | $11.2B | $10.4B |
| Revenue growth | — | +4% | 0% | +7% | — |
| Gross profit | $5.04B | $3.90B | $4.80B | $5.05B | $4.45B |
| EBITDA | $3.04B | $1.97B | $3.04B | $3.12B | $2.56B |
| Net income | $1.79B | $883M | $2.22B | $1.86B | $1.64B |
| Free cash flow | $2.05B | $1.75B | $1.93B | $1.55B | $1.81B |
| Capital expenditure | $517M | $528M | $606M | $771M | $519M |
| Total debt | $5.43B | $5.74B | $5.45B | $5.13B | $5.12B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hershey Company (The) HSY | $35.8B | -3% | +7% | 20% | 19.2× | -5.0% |
| Mondelez International MDLZ | $83.6B | +8% | +6% | 18% | 19.9× | -2.7% |
| Nestle NESN.SW | $266B | +11% | -2% | 16% | 19.0× | 1.3% |
| Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli LISN.SW | $24.6B | -8% | +4% | 16% | 28.2× | 3.4% |
| Tootsie Roll Industries TR | $2.92B | -8% | +2% | 12% | n/a | 14.1% |
| UTZ Brands UTZ | $2.05B | +90% | +2% | 4% | 17.9× | 31.8% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | HSY | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +9.6% | +7.2% | 4th highest of 11 |
| 6-month return | -3.5% | -6.0% | 5th highest of 11 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -25.1% | -18.8% | 4th lowest of 11 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +6.7% | +6.3% | 5th highest of 11 |
| Operating margin | 20.4% | 16.8% | 2nd highest of 11 |
| Forward P/E | 19.2× | 26.5× | 4th cheapest of 11 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | -5.0% | 5.5% | 2nd least demanding of 11 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +7.5% | +7.9% | 4th lowest of 11 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -12.5 pp | -1.6 pp | least demanding of 11 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +14.3 pp | +4.4 pp | 3rd highest of 11 |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.3× | 15.0× | 5th cheapest of 10 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.6× | 1.3× | 5th most indebted of 10 |
| Bond spread | 51 bp | 79 bp | tightest of 4 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hershey Company (The) HSY | United States | $35.8B | -3% | +7% | 20% | 19.2× | -5.0% | +7.5% |
| Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food 603288.SS | China | $29.8B | -7% | +6% | 27% | 28.9× | 7.6% | +4.9% |
| Ajinomoto 2802.T | Japan | $25.3B | -16% | +7% | 11% | 29.4× | 19.2% | +8.1% |
| Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Spruengli LISN.SW | Switzerland | $24.6B | -8% | +4% | 16% | 28.2× | 3.4% | +8.1% |
| Mondelez International MDLZ | United States | $83.6B | +8% | +6% | 18% | 19.9× | -2.7% | +7.7% |
| J.M. Smucker Company (The) SJM | United States | $13.9B | +33% | +5% | 19% | 12.9× | -7.1% | +2.5% |
| McCormick & MKC | United States | $13.0B | 0% | +13% | 17% | 15.9× | 3.2% | +4.1% |
| Britannia Industries BRITANNIA.NS | India | $12.1B | -18% | +7% | 17% | 41.7× | 28.9% | +7.8% |
| Tata Consumer Products TATACONSUM.NS | India | $11.4B | -6% | +15% | 11% | 55.5× | 42.8% | +11.8% |
| Kikkoman 2801.T | Japan | $10.9B | +24% | +9% | 11% | 24.8× | 8.8% | +11.2% |
| Orkla ORK.OL | Norway | $10.8B | -6% | 0% | 10% | 15.5× | -1.1% | +8.7% |
Hershey Company (The) has 12 bonds outstanding with $4.64B face value. The agencies rate it A; its bonds trade like AA+. Weighted yield 5.25%, a spread of 51 bp over government bonds.