Cal-Maine Foods is a Jackson, Mississippi-based shell egg producer that is the largest egg company in the United States, with a portfolio of conventional, cage-free, organic, and specialty egg products serving retail and foodservice customers nationwide, and the company is in the middle of a fiscal year 2026 print that demonstrates the kind of post-HPAI pricing reset the egg producer cohort has been waiting for. Fiscal 2026 net sales of $2,911.6 million were 31.7 percent below the prior-year period's $4,261.9 million, net income attributable to Cal-Maine of $316.7 million was 74.0 percent below the prior-year period's $1,220.0 million, and the cash position declined from $500.4 million at the start of the year to $113.5 million at year-end. The combination of the revenue decline and the net income decline is the cleanest single-sentence read on what the egg producer business model is producing, and the combination is the source of the post-HPAI pricing reset the company is producing.
The numbers tell the story with the kind of operational detail the egg producer equity has been waiting for. The fiscal 2026 revenue decline was driven by the decrease in prices for conventional shell eggs as the layer population recovered in 2025 from the recent HPAI outbreaks, partially offset by sales growth from acquisitions made during fiscal 2026. The fiscal 2026 net income decline was driven by the revenue decline, the gross margin compression, and the operating expense leverage.
The operating income of $350.2 million in fiscal 2026 was 77.2 percent below the prior-year period's $1,536.5 million, with the operating income decline driven by the revenue decline and the gross margin compression. The total other income of $60.8 million was 8.7 percent below the prior-year period's $66.6 million. The income tax expense of $92.9 million was 75.9 percent below the prior-year period's $384.9 million, with the tax expense decline reflecting the net income decline.
The cash position at fiscal year-end of $113.5 million was a $387 million decline from the $500.4 million at the start of the year, with the cash decline driven by the acquisitions the company made during the year and the working capital investment. The cash position is the cleanest single read on the financial position the company is producing, and the cash position is the source of the financial flexibility the company is positioning itself around.
The dividend at the parent level has been variable, with the company paying a regular dividend that has fluctuated with the egg pricing environment. The dividend yield at the current share price is the second structural feature the equity offers the buy-side, and the dividend yield is the source of the income the equity offers the buy-side.
The question the next four quarters resolve is whether the company can stabilize the egg pricing environment and the operating profile after the post-HPAI pricing reset, and whether the acquisitions the company made during fiscal 2026 are producing the operating profile. A fiscal 2027 first-quarter print that shows egg pricing stabilizing and the acquisitions producing the operating profile would confirm the post-HPAI pricing reset is producing. A first-quarter print that shows egg pricing continuing to decline or the acquisitions not producing would force the market to reprice the equity for a more modest terminal value.