Packaged food firms have had a rough run, but Wall Street seems to have a better upside on Kraft Heinz and Mondelez.
- Berkshire Hathaway is preparing to sell the more than 325 million shares it holds in Kraft Heinz ahead of a planned split.
- JP Morgan said it sees the company’s volume pressures persisting in 2026 and that Kraft faces ongoing volume declines and likely stepped-up investments this year.
- Wall Street seems to like Kraft Heinz over Mondelez International, with a 18.3% and 17.3% upside, respectively.
Kraft Heinz is making news again, and this time it has a Warren Buffett angle. Current Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel has decided to exit the firm’s position in the Heinz Ketchup maker, which has been driving losses for the Omaha-based conglomerate.
But Wall Street seems to prefer Kraft Heinz to Mondelez International, even though the latter’s stock has had a smoother run and less noise around the company.
KHC Vs MDLZ
Kraft Heinz had an average rating of ‘Hold’ according to Koyfin, with 17 of the 20 analysts covering the stock rating it ‘Hold,’ one ‘Buy,’ and two ‘Sell’ or lower. Kraft Heinz’s average consensus price target was $26.50, representing an 18.3% upside from the stock’s Wednesday closing price.
On the other hand, Mondelez’s average 12-month price target is $67.27, a 17.3% upside from its last close. Wall Street analysts are mostly bullish, with 18 of 26 rating it ‘Strong Buy’ or ‘Buy’.
Berkshire Exit Weighs
Packaged food firms have seen rising costs and slowing demand hamper their growth. A pandemic-led surge in costs was passed on to consumers by the likes of Kraft Heinz and Mondelez, making their products pricier and prompting consumers to look for alternatives, mainly cheaper private-label items.
This, along with Trump tariffs, has not given investors any relief, with Kraft Heinz among the hardest-hit firms, while Mondelez’s chocolate division has kept it going, even as its snacks division sees weakness.
Berkshire Hathaway, under Buffett, took a stake in Kraft Heinz after helping engineer the 2015 merger. The conglomerate has indicated it is now exiting its position of more than 325 million shares ahead of the company’s planned breakup. In September, Kraft Heinz announced it would split into two separate companies, with one focused on groceries and the other on sauces and spreads.
It was also under Buffett’s stewardship that Kraft previously spun off its snack business, which later went public as Mondelez. While investors and the broader market have shown greater enthusiasm for Mondelez’s growth narrative, Wall Street analysts currently see slightly more upside in Kraft Heinz, by a narrow margin of about one percentage point.
Wall Street View
This week alone, Kraft Heinz witnessed two major brokerages slash their price targets on its stock. JPMorgan lowered the firm’s price target on Kraft Heinz to $24 from $25, according to The Fly. The research firm said it sees the company’s volume pressures persisting in 2026 and that Kraft faces ongoing volume declines and likely stepped-up investments this year.
Jefferies analyst Scott Marks lowered the firm’s price target on Kraft Heinz to $23 from $24 and said it remains cautious on the company, given continued demand challenges and uncertainty about the outlook for the post-split businesses, among other factors.
On Wednesday, JPMorgan also lowered the firm’s price target on Mondelez to $69 from $71 and said it believes the company’s 2026 earnings “inflection” could be back-half weighted, given pressures from increased spending and volume challenges that began at the start of the year.
How Are Stocktwits Users Reacting?
Retail sentiment on Kraft Heinz jumped to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago, with message volumes at ‘extremely high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.
Sentiment on Mondelez remained unchanged in the ‘bearish’ territory compared to a day ago, with volumes of messages at ‘normal’ levels.
Shares of Mondelez have jumped more than 6% so far this year, while Kraft Heinz has lost over 7%.
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