** Shares of U.S. packaged food makers J.M. Smucker SJM.N and Kraft Heinz KHC.O fall about 1% each premarket after brokerage Morgan Stanley downgrades its ratings

** Says companies face rising competitive risk as value-focused pricing, promotions and private-label gains reaccelerate into 2026, adding to soft sales trends

** Notes U.S. low and middle-end consumers remain under pressure, raising incremental risk to pricing power, market share and margin recovery expectations

** Downgrades KHC to "underweight" from "equal-weight", says co faces acute risk given private -label penetration, limited profit flexibility compared to peers

** SJM moved to "equal-weight" from "overweight", as recent share outperformance leaves less upside as competitive risks build

** In 2025, SJM fell ~11%, KHC down ~21%

** Brokerage also cuts PTs for the following packaged foods companies:

(Reporting by Sanskriti Shekhar in Bengaluru )

((Sanskriti.Shekhar@thomsonreuters.com))