Campbell's Brand Investments Should Support an Edge Even Against a Gloomy Economic Backdrop

CEO Mark Clouse’s tenure has been fraught with change since joining Campbell Soup in January 2019. The company parted ways with its fresh business and the bulk of its international operations while working to steady its core meals, beverages, and snacking arms. The global pandemic and inflation have also had an impact. However, we don’t think recent performance (20% consumption growth on a three-year stack basis) is just a byproduct of stepped-up consumer stockups of essential fare since March 2020. Rather, we think Campbell’s prudent strategic focus has set it on a sound course, leveraging technology, data insights, and artificial intelligence to bring consumer-valued products to the shelf in a timely fashion while also reducing complexity, investing in automation, and optimizing its supply chain and manufacturing network.