12:37 PM EDT, 10/23/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Simply Good Foods' ( SMPL ) fiscal fourth-quarter results declined year-over-year, while its chief executive flagged continued "short-term pain" for Atkins, which offers protein bars and shakes.

The nutritional foods and snacking products maker's adjusted earnings fell to $0.46 per share for the quarter ended Aug. 30 from $0.50 a year earlier. The FactSet-polled consensus, based on expectations from five analysts, was for $0.48. Sales dropped to $369 million from $375.7 million, while 10 analysts expected an average of $368.7 million.

Atkins' retail takeaway declined 12% as consumption fell because of distribution losses, according to a slide deck.

"Atkins is losing shelf space in the highly competitive nutritional snacking aisle over the last several years, as sales for this category doubled in size with space at a premium," CEO Geoff Tanner told analysts during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. "Atkins' large distribution and merchandising footprint has come under pressure, with sales declines in recent periods, mainly driven by distribution cuts at several retailers."

The company is working with key retailers to repurpose space occupied by Atkins' products to support the continued expansion of the Quest and OWYN brands, he said on the call.

"We acknowledge that there will continue to be short-term pain for Atkins, with consumption expected to decline approximately 20% in fiscal year 2026," Tanner said.

The stock plunged 18% intraday, taking its year-to-date decline to 48%.

Tanner said the company has taken productivity and pricing actions to mitigate the pressure from high input costs that is expected to persist through the first half of fiscal 2026.

"In order to ensure we had adequate supply to meet consumer demand, we contracted for cocoa at historically high prices, which in addition to tariffs, weighed heavily on our margins in the back half of fiscal 2025," Tanner said.

"At this point, we're confident our gross margins will improve, beginning modestly in (the third quarter) and more meaningfully into (the fourth quarter), driven in part by the coverage we've already secured on cocoa through most of the second half at rates well below prior year," he said.

The company is guiding fiscal 2026 net sales to to be down 2% to up 2%. Analysts are looking for full-year sales of $1.49 billion, up from the previous year's $1.45 billion.

"We continue to monitor the markets and note that current spot levels present further potential favorability as we exit this year and primarily into fiscal 2027," Tanner said.

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