General Mills reported a decline in both profit and sales for its fiscal third quarter, but the company indicated that its performance is approaching a turning point due to efforts to boost volume and expand market share.

The food giant, which owns brands such as Cheerios and Pillsbury, announced on Wednesday for the quarter ended February 22:

Profit was $303.1 million, or $0.56 per share, down from $625.6 million, or $1.12 per share, in the same period last year. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were $0.64, missing the $0.73 per share forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Net sales fell 8.4% to $4.44 billion, slightly above Wall Street's expectation of $4.41 billion. Organic sales declined by 3%. CEO Jeff Harmening stated that this year's performance was in line with expectations. Despite the company's volume growth and market share gains, investment spending, asset divestitures, and an unfavorable prior-year comparison collectively contributed to the decline in profit and revenue.

"Entering the fourth fiscal quarter, we expect organic sales trends to improve and to return to profit growth," he added, citing reasons including continued market share gains, a more favorable year-over-year comparison, and an extra week in the current fiscal year.

General Mills maintained its full-year guidance:

Organic net sales are projected to decline by 1.5% to 2%. Adjusted earnings per share, on a constant-currency basis, are expected to decline by 16% to 20%.

The company had lowered its fiscal year outlook last month, stating at the time that weak consumer confidence, rising uncertainty, and significant market volatility were hindering growth and affecting consumer behavior.

Looking further ahead to fiscal 2027, Harmening expressed confidence that General Mills will improve its organic sales performance, noting that the company's pricing-related investments will be largely complete by that time.