Sep 9, 2026 earnings call — Avocado growth and asset monetization focus
Company raised fiscal 2026 avocado guidance to 7 million to 7.25 million pounds and expects more than 10 million pounds in fiscal 2027.
Revenue $0.0B (est $0.0B) · EPS $0.02 (est $0.19)
Key quotes
"Looking ahead, we expect to produce more than 10 million pounds of avocados in fiscal year 2027, an increase of approximately 30% over fiscal year 2026."
"Subsequent to quarter end, on August 17, we announced that we entered into a new agreement to sell Windfall Farms for $15 million all cash following a competitive public auction process."
"The third quarter results came in below our expectations due to lighter-than-anticipated lemon sales volume."
Analyst Q&A 2
lemon imports and water monetization
Q (Pooran Sharma · Stephens): Where are the extra lemon imports coming from, and is this a timing issue or an overall supply increase? Also, what must happen to complete the Colorado River water monetization and has timing or value confidence changed?
A: Management said Argentina fruit diverted to the United States after Western Europe was oversupplied, which oversupplied the U.S. lemon market and hurt Sunkist volume and price. They purposely held back pushing additional supply into the fourth quarter and say price is beginning to firm but challenges remain. On water, they are on track: they removed lemons from 1,300 acres in Yuma, are identifying lower-water substitute crops, and are close to entering a long-term fallowing agreement to monetize water rights in the fourth quarter.
"And so that's really what happened is Sunkist sales plan fell short because there were just too many lemons in the market at this time." — Harold Edwards (CEO)
avocado volumes and weather risk
Q (Alex Ewig · Lake Street): How will the acres planted in 2023 and 2024 come online for FY27 avocado volume, how much of the 2027 volume is already locked in versus weather-dependent, and what impact might El Nino have?
A: They said 6 million to 7 million pounds is effectively locked in from acreage already producing, and the rest of the increase comes from expanded acreage from the '22, '23, '24 plantings. Management cautioned it is risky to call volumes fully locked because fruit must grow and survive weather events, but they see a very large crop on the trees now. On El Nino, they expect quite a bit of rain in California (helpful unless it causes flooding), and less rainfall in Mexico could reduce Mexico's crop and help California avocados.
"I would say that 7 million -- 6 million to 7 million is a lock-in because that's on acreage that is already producing and contributed to this year's volume." — Greg Hamm (CFO)