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• Overall Q3 2026 Performance • Third quarter 2026 results were slightly ahead of consensus and internal expectations, driven by stronger-than-anticipated food service performance • The 500 million annualized run rate estimate for food service reflects the business returning to balanced supply and demand and normalized inventories after the 2025 HPAI disruption, with only industry egg pricing imbalances remaining to be corrected

• Capital Allocation Update • The company has purchased 4% of its outstanding shares in fiscal 2026 to date, bringing total year-to-date share reduction to approximately 17%, with leverage remaining within the company's target range • Going forward, capital allocation will shift to prioritize debt reduction over aggressive share repurchases, driven by rising interest rates and expected refinancing impacts; share repurchases will continue opportunistically at a slower pace • Management maintains a comfortable target leverage level in the mid-4s range, and will preserve leverage flexibility for potential cash M&A opportunities

• Operational Optimization Initiatives • Management is executing the same capacity/asset optimization playbook used for ready-to-eat cereal across all business segments; the company recently decided to close two peanut butter plants as part of 8th Avenue business integration, with impacts expected in fiscal 2028 • For the pet food segment, after achieving stable market share, management is now actively pursuing aggressive cost reduction opportunities beyond initial footprint adjustments, including portfolio simplification, formula harmonization, and eventual footprint optimization • Marketing spend has been reallocated across the portfolio, with 100% of advertising spend now shifted to digital from linear TV to improve return on spend; spend has shifted from national advertising to in-store and trade support for the pet food segment

• Channel and Category Trends • In pet food, e-commerce is outgrowing all brick-and-mortar channels, and the mass channel is outperforming pet specialty; the company is a positioned as a premium private label pet food producer, a growing segment, and sees additional expansion opportunities as footprint integration completes • SNAP and WIC program changes have created near-term category noise, but management sees cereal as an affordable breakfast option that could benefit from SNAP-related affordability trends

• Fiscal 2026 Guidance: Management maintains the midpoint of the prior fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance range while narrowing the overall range
• The CapEx guidance range for fiscal 2026 has shifted slightly higher at the low end, reflecting project pacing updates
• Fiscal 2027 Preliminary Guidance: After adjusting fiscal 2026 for $80 million of comparability items, the comparable adjusted EBITDA base entering 2027 is approximately $1.48 billion
• Preliminary fiscal 2027 outlook calls for adjusted EBITDA to be relatively flat (consistent) with this $1.48 billion comparable base
• Offsetting headwinds for 2027 include normalized food service earnings, the absence of income from already divested businesses, higher-than-expected inflation coming in at the upper end of prior expected ranges, and ongoing retail volume pressure
• Tailwinds expected to offset these headwinds include targeted pricing actions, ongoing cost savings, and food service underlying volume growth
• Pricing actions to offset inflation are expected to be implemented mostly in the back half of fiscal 2027, as the company waits for clear inflation trends before negotiating pricing with retail customers
• Full formalized fiscal 2027 guidance and detailed segment assumptions will be released in November

Detailed segment-level financial results with absolute figures and revenue contribution percentages were not disclosed in the provided transcript. The only segment-level performance commentary noted was that food service segment performance was stronger than anticipated in Q3 2026, driving overall results that were slightly ahead of management expectations. Refrigerated retail underperformed expectations in Q3 2026, pulled down by timing of the Easter holiday, lapping prior year egg pricing adders from the HPAI event, higher fuel and freight costs, and a market/grain-based egg pricing imbalance. The pet food segment currently holds 30% market share, with ongoing turnaround initiatives beginning to deliver encouraging results; 60% of the segment's year-over-year volume decline is concentrated in value brands, particularly Nine Lives, while the relaunched core nutrition brand has seen market share inflection in transitioned retail markets. The ready-to-eat cereal business has an expected long-term underlying volume trend of -1% to -2% annually, with the premium cereal portfolio gaining market share.

• Ongoing volume pressure in most retail consumer food segments, with the ready-to-eat cereal segment expected to see a long-term underlying trend of 1% to 2% annual volume decline, and the pet food segment facing volume headwinds from its mix exposure to the declining dry dog food category
• Higher-than-expected inflation, which is coming in at the upper end of management's prior expected range for fiscal 2027, requiring incremental pricing actions that may impact demand elasticity
• Rising interest rates are increasing expected future refinancing costs, pressuring free cash flow if leverage is not reduced ahead of maturities
• The ongoing imbalance between market and grain-based egg pricing is pressuring margins for both food service and refrigerated retail segments, though management expects this imbalance to correct as industry oversupply is resolved
• Pet food segment turnaround initiatives, particularly for the Nine Lives value brand, are facing short-term pressure from competitive price undercutting and high elasticity from recent relaunch pricing adjustments
• Portfolio transition and assortment adjustments in the pet food segment have taken longer and been messier than initially anticipated

Q: Why is the company shifting from aggressive share buybacks to a deleveraging posture, and does this change M&A appetite? / A: The shift is driven primarily by rising interest rates and future refinancing impacts. Though the company has no maturities for four years, higher rates increase the future cash flow impact of refinancing, so reducing debt now preserves future free cash flow. Share buybacks will continue opportunistically at a slower pace, and M&A flexibility is preserved by keeping leverage at a comfortable mid-4s target. (358 characters)

Q: Will the company pursue the same asset optimization in pet food that it completed in cereal? / A: Yes, management already executed this playbook to close two peanut butter plants recently, and is now assessing identical opportunities in pet food. After stabilizing the pet business to hold 30% market share, management is now pursuing aggressive cost cuts beyond footprint, including portfolio simplification and formula harmonization, and will optimize the manufacturing footprint once these steps are complete. (401 characters)

Q: What is driving the strong Q3 food service profit despite lower price realization, and is the $500 million run rate sustainable? / A: The $500 million run rate reflects normalized earnings power after the HPAI disruption. Supply balance and inventories are already back to normal levels. The only remaining imbalance is between market and grain-based egg pricing created by HPAI, which management expects to correct soon as industry oversupply forces producers to reduce supply. The business is expected to grow from this $500 million run rate in 2027. (398 characters)

Q: Could you provide an update on the pet food business turnaround progress across brands? / A: 60% of the segment's year-over-year decline is from the Nine Lives value brand, which saw higher-than-expected elasticity after a relaunch of unprofitable SKUs, and is facing short-term pressure from competitor price undercutting. The core nutrition brand, once fully transitioned to a focused core SKU assortment, has shifted from declining market share to gaining share over the last 13 weeks, with encouraging margin results. (372 characters)