Cal-Maine Sees Egg Supply Rebalancing as Q1 Conventional Shell Egg Sales Fall 59.5%

Cal-Maine Foods (CALM) sees early signs that U.S. conventional egg supply and demand are rebalancing, but cannot predict when the glut suppressing wholesale prices will end, CEO Sherman Miller said on a Sept. 30 earnings call. The oversupply reverses conditions from a year ago, when an avian influenza outbreak killed more than 145 million U.S. birds. Conventional shell egg sales fell 59.5% year over year to $201.7 million in Q1 FY2027. Miller cited American Egg Board data showing the layer-hen flock at 336 million to 343 million, roughly 4 million below prior estimates, with breeder-egg hatch numbers down 12% year to date and monthly case production edging down to 19.9 million. He said egg demand shows no "structural weakness," citing a roughly 4% rise in U.S. retail egg volume from January through August versus a year earlier. The glut stems from elevated flock numbers, strong hen productivity and insufficient exports.