Cal-Maine Foods reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.06, beating consensus by $0.17, while net sales declined 53.0% to $667.0 million versus $1.4 billion a year earlier. The revenue shortfall of $11.2 million versus estimates reflected sharply lower average egg prices compared with the prior-year period.

Conventional egg sales fell 72.1% to $283.2 million, driven by a 70.1% plunge in prices and a 6.7% volume decline. Specialty egg sales decreased 12.1% to $289.1 million as a 16.9% price drop offset a 5.8% volume gain, while prepared foods surged 441.2% to $63.6 million following the Echo Lake Foods acquisition. Specialty eggs now account for 50.5% of shell egg sales and prepared foods represent 9.5% of net sales, combining for 52.9% of total net sales.

Gross profit declined 83.3% to $119.3 million with margins compressing to 17.9%. Operating income plunged 94.3% to $35.9 million and net income attributable to the company dropped 90.1% to $50.5 million.

The company’s shift toward higher-margin specialty and prepared foods categories yielded a 2,610 basis-point increase in specialty ratio and an 870-basis-point rise in prepared foods share. The Echo Lake acquisition bolstered prepared foods growth, diversifying revenue amid volatile egg prices.