Don't Judge A Candy By Its Cover - Hershey Reportedly Defends Lawsuit Against Reese's Candies

The Hershey Company HSY shares are trading slightly higher premarket Monday. Hershey has reportedly asked a U.S. judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it misled consumers about Reese’s peanut butter candies.

In its request, Hershey criticized the class action litigation as baseless, targeting issues related to product packaging, reported Reuters.

The report noted that the consumers suing Hershey expressed disappointment over the lack of details on nine Reese’s products, including pumpkin-shaped candies missing eyes and crooked mouths, and a football-shaped candy resembling an egg due to missing stitching.

The report quoted Hershey saying, “This lawsuit is yet another in a growing trend of baseless class actions founded on nothing but a consumer’s selective, subjective, and result-driven interpretation of one isolated aspect of a product’s packaging without considering its full context.”

“Not a single plaintiff claims the product was unfit for consumption or was anything other than what consumers have come to love and expect from this iconic brand–a delicious treat.”

Notably, the Florida plaintiffs suing Hershey—Nathan Vidal, Debra Kennick, Abdjul Martin, and Eduardo Granados—are seeking at least $5 million in damages.

Last month, Hershey reported second-quarter EPS that fell 36.8% to $1.27, missing estimates with sales of $2.07 billion down 16.7% from expectations of $2.31 billion.

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via Vesper US Large Cap Short-Term Reversal Strategy ETF UTRN and First Trust Nasdaq Food & Beverage ETF FTXG.

Price Action: HSY shares are up 0.45% at $200.70 premarket at the last check Monday.

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