Competitively-Advantaged Hershey Poised to Navigate the Travails of the Current Industry Backdrop

We applaud the strategic focus CEO Michele Buck has brought to bear over the past seven years--ramping up investments in its core domestic brands while pulling back in its international arm (high-single-digit percentage of total sales, where we surmise its competitive position lags its global peers). And while cash-constrained consumers’ hankering for confections could be waning (given the more discretionary nature of the product), we don’t think Hershey’s leading position (with more than one third share of the US chocolate aisle versus just low-single-digit marks for lower-priced private-label offerings) has been tarnished.