By Rob Curran
Bunge Global's first-quarter net income fell despite a surge in revenue but the agricultural commodities giant boosted its profit projection for the year as the Iran war drove up the price of grains and production volumes continued to grow.
The St. Louis grain processor and agricultural dealer posted earnings of $68 million, or 35 cents a share, down from $201 million, or $1.48 a share, a year earlier.
Stripping out certain one-off items, Bunge logged adjusted earnings of $1.83 a share, eclipsing the mean analyst target of 88 cents a share, as per FactSet.
Fourth-quarter sales surged 88% to $21.86 billion, shy of the mean analyst estimate of $23.38 billion, as per FactSet.
Sales at its soybean processing and refining unit billion rose 43% to $9.55 billion, reflecting particular strength in Argentina and Brazil. Softseed processing and refining sales more than doubled to $3.9 billion. Grain merchandising and milling sales rose more than threefold to $7.18 billion. Tropical oils sales rose slightly to $1.23 billion.
Cost of goods sold surged to $21.1 billion from $11.05 billion a year earlier.
Bunge boosted its forecast for 2026 adjusted earnings to a range between $9 and $9.50 a share from a previous projection of $7.50-to-$8 a share, well above the mean analyst estimate of $8.43 a share.
The company's shares have spiked in recent weeks alongside grain prices, which have risen in tune with fertilizer prices. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has bottled up a large portion of the world's fertilizer supply.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2026 06:34 ET (10:34 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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