Campbell Soup CEO To Investors: Guidance Reflects 'Confidence'

Campbell Soup Company CPB CEO Mark Clouse went on offense Wednesday afternoon and SAID investors were wrong in assuming its fiscal second-quarter guidance was light.

'Continued Confidence': Campbell Soup guided its fiscal second quarter EPS to a range of 81 cents to 83 cents versus the consensus estimate of 83 cents.

The guidance reflects "continued confidence" in the business and assumes elevated demand will continue "well beyond" the COVID-19 pandemic, the CEO said Wednesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell."

Related Link: Campbell Soup: Q1 Earnings Insights

"Out outlook should only be interpreted as us continuing to build confidence as we go through the year," he said.

Millennials Buying Soup: One of the key question marks around Campbell Soup's stock is whether millennials and other demographic groups will want to continue buying canned soup post-pandemic.

To counter this, the CEO said millions of new consumers first bought canned soup of necessity but grew to enjoy the experience. Encouragingly, he said their positive experience came at a "better value."

Seventy percent of the millions of new consumers have turned into repeat customers, he said. And the "single biggest" demographic fueling that trend is millennials, Clouse said. 

Campbell's brands extend beyond just canned soup. The company has plenty of exposure to snacks, and the CEO said the category will experience continued momentum in any health environment.  

"The combination of those elements together gives us a lot more confidence that this isn't a one-time situation, but really material trend changes," Clouse said.

CPB Price Action: Campbell's shares were down 0.19% at $47.20 at last check Thursday.