BUZZ-Street View: Mondelez's 2025 profit forecast weak as higher cocoa prices catch up

Mondelez International MDLZ.O forecast a bigger-than-estimated drop in its annual profit on Tuesday, signaling pressures from higher costs, including from surging cocoa prices

Shares of the Oreo and Toblerone maker fell 4.7% to $53.50 in premarket trading

BITTER COCOA PRICES CATCH UP

Jefferies (Hold, PT: $59) says soaring cocoa price inflation has finally caught up with MDLZ and the magnitude of unhedged cocoa accounted into 2025 EPS was more pronounced than expected

J.P.Morgan (Overweight, PT: $64) says MDLZ's profit also impacted by North American sales remaining challenged and global snacking in general is showing some wear and visibility into which way cocoa goes from here

Piper Sandler (Neutral, PT: $56) notes cocoa costs unlikely to get much worse from current levels and are likely to come down but 2026 outlook still unclear

Stifel (Buy, PT: $70) expects gross margin contraction for the year, with declines in Q1-Q3 while Q4 expands due to pricing actions, productivity savings, and lapping Q4 fiscal 2025 unfavorable cocoa impact