Ingredion Incorporated lowered its 2026 adjusted diluted earnings forecast after a slower recovery at its Argo operation and weaker food and beverage demand pressured third-quarter results.
The company now expects adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $9.25 to $9.70 for 2026. It projects net sales to remain flat and adjusted operating income to decline by a mid-teens percentage. For the Food & Industrial Ingredients–U.S./CAN segment, Ingredion forecasts operating income to fall 35% to 40%.
Third-quarter net sales totaled $1.792 billion, down 1% from a year earlier. Adjusted diluted EPS was $2.28, compared with $2.75 in the third quarter of 2025. Google Finance displayed an analyst estimate of $2.60, putting the adjusted result 32 cents below that figure.
Reported diluted EPS was $2.23, down from $2.61 a year earlier. Both the adjusted and reported per-share measures were lower than their year-earlier levels.
Chairman, President and CEO Jim Zallie said Argo’s financial recovery was taking longer than Ingredion had expected. He also cited higher input costs and softer demand for food and beverage products as pressures on the quarter.
Operating income in the U.S./CAN segment was $52 million, down 36% from a year earlier, or $29 million. Ingredion pointed to higher manufacturing expenses at Argo and lower volumes; favorable price mix offset part of the pressure. The segment’s projected decline of 35% to 40% is steeper than the mid-teens drop Ingredion expects in adjusted operating income companywide.
