Nestle's Infant Formula Recall in Focus -- Earnings Preview

Dow Jones
Feb 18

By Aimee Look

 

Nestle scheduled to report results for 2025 on Thursday. Here is what you need to know:

 

SALES FORECAST: The maker of Nescafe coffee and Purina pet food is expected to book 89.69 billion Swiss francs ($116.48 billion) in sales for 2025, according to company-compiled estimates. In 2024, Nestle had 91.35 billion francs in sales.

 

ORGANIC SALES FORECAST: Analysts expect Nestle's organic growth to be 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with 2.7% for the same quarter in 2024. Within this, 2.4% is expected to come from pricing, while 0.9% from volumes. In the fourth quarter of 2024, pricing made up 1.2% of growth, and volumes 1.5%.

 

UNDERLYING TRADING OPERATING PROFIT FORECAST: Nestle's forecasted underlying trading operating profit is 14.42 billion francs. In 2024, the metric was 15.7 billion francs.

 

NET INCOME: The consumer giant is anticipated to book 10.08 billion Swiss francs in net profit for 2025, compared with 10.88 billion Swiss francs the year prior.

 

Shares have fallen 4.1% over the past 12 months to 79.02 francs on Tuesday's close.

 

WHAT TO WATCH:

 

-- Nestle's infant formula recall will likely get some air time at its results, even though the direct impact has been quantified as affecting less than 0.5% of global revenue, Morgan Stanley analyst Sarah Simon wrote in a note. The recall has been "far from reassuring" for investors in a category that is highly sensitive to reputation, said Vontobel director Jean-Philippe Bertschy. "The infant formula crisis continues to weigh heavily on sentiment," he added.

-- The company's plan to recover organic growth will also be in focus, J.P. Morgan analysts wrote in a note. How Nestle plans to ignite marketing, R&D, improve performance and restructure around categories will be all looked at through earnings, they said. Portfolio choices are also front of mind, regarding frozen foods and other asset disposals, the analysts wrote.

 

Write to Aimee Look at aimee.look@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 18, 2026 02:44 ET (07:44 GMT)

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