Topline
Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg supplier in the U.S., announced Tuesday it is cooperating with the Justice Department as the federal agency investigates it over egg prices that surged at the start of the year, which served as a focal point for U.S. inflation woes.
Cal-Maine revealed its involvement in the investigation Tuesday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)
Key Facts
Cal-Maine said it received a notice of investigation from the Justice Department last month to “determine whether there is, has been or may be a violation of the antitrust laws by anticompetitive conduct by and among egg producers.”
The company said in a financial statement it almost doubled its net sales to $1.42 billion in its fiscal quarter ended March 1, but that reportedly still fell slightly short of Wall Street expectations.
Cal-Maine said in the statement it was cooperating with the probe and that management cannot predict the duration or outcome of the investigation and is “unable to estimate the amount or range of potential losses, if any, at this time.”
The egg producer said its conventional egg sales in the third quarter increased 145% from the same time period last year, attributing the jump to a 121% surge in prices for conventional eggs that also helped it record a $557.4 million increase in net sales.
Cal-Maine reported selling 331.4 million dozen eggs last quarter, marking a 10% year-over-year increase.
Egg prices soared in February, when the cost for a dozen wholesale large white eggs once reached over $8, and largely cooled off in mid-March, as wholesale egg prices reached $3.27 per dozen, according to the Department of Agriculture.
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Tangent
Cal-Maine shares slid 4% in after-hours trading after closing down 3.3% to $90.33. Shares are now down 12.2% since the start of the year.
What We Don’t Know
It’s not clear what other companies have been contacted by the DOJ and whether they’re cooperating with the probe.
Key Background
Egg shortages and price surges have primarily been attributed to a bird flu outbreak that reduced the population of egg-laying hens. Grocery chains including Walmart and Trader Joe’s implemented nationwide limits on egg purchases as the egg supply chain was strained. The bird flu outbreak has so far caused the depopulation of 30.3 million birds this year in an effort to rein in the spread of infection, according to the Department of Agriculture. The average price for a dozen large eggs in the U.S. in February was $5.90. That number has since declined, as the Department of Agriculture reported the average price for a dozen large eggs reached $3.36 this month.
Further Reading
Egg Prices: Trump Touts Prices Are ‘Way Down’—As Consumers Start Seeing A Drop (Forbes)
As egg prices soared at the supermarket, so did producer profits (The Washington Post)
