KHC Stock Heads For Worst Week Since March: Wall Street Analyst Sees Further Downside

• The lowered target indicates a downside potential of 7.7% compared to KHC’s last close. 
• The analyst cited the company’s plans to spend another $600 million on marketing, lower prices, sales personnel, and renovation as a reason for the target cut.
• Management expects the company’s organic net sales for the full year to decline by 1.5% to 3.5% versus the prior year, while adjusted operating income is expected to decrease by 14% to 18%.

Shares of Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) are headed for their worst week since March, with Bernstein seeing further downside for the company after CEO Steven Cahillane laid out plans for incremental spending this year.

Bernstein analyst Alexia Howard downgraded Kraft Heinz to ‘Underperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ with a price target of $21, cut lower from $25, indicating a downside potential of 7.7% compared to its last close.

Wall Street Consensus On KHC

Bernstein cited Cahillane’s plans to spend another $600 million on the company’s marketing, lower prices, sales personnel, and renovation as a reason for the target cut, according to TheFly.

The firm said that the plans further pushed Kraft Heinz's expected 2026 leverage to 3.8 times and the dividend payout ratio to roughly 60%, "which then begs the question of how sustainable this new model is." Bernstein also said that commodity inflation and the company's limited pricing power contribute to the downgrade.

According to Koyfin data, the company has an average 12-month price target of $23.58, which indicates an upside of about 3.6% from its last closing price.

Of the 20 analysts covering the stock, 14 have a ‘Hold’ rating, while 5 rate the shares ‘Sell’ or ‘Strong Sell’. Only one analyst still has a ‘Buy’ rating on the company.

Kraft Heinz Touts Innovation Plans

On Wednesday, Kraft Heinz’s CEO said the company plans to accelerate product innovation next ​year amid higher investment plans.

"Next year is going to be better because we've put a lot of changes in place around the R&D, around process improvement, ​around resource allocation that will lead to a better innovation pipeline for 2027 than we had in 2026," Cahillane reportedly told Reuters.

The push comes as Kraft Heinz shares have declined, falling more than 14% over the last year amid shifting consumer preferences and slower growth.

In the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, the company’s operating income decreased by 4.3% to $1.1 billion, while adjusted operating income fell 11.8%. Management expects the company’s organic net sales for the full year to decline by 1.5% to 3.5% versus the prior year, while adjusted operating income is expected to decrease by 14% to 18% due to its reinvestment plans.

KHC Stock: Retail Stance

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around KHC stock has stayed ‘bearish’ over the past week, improving slightly from the ‘extremely bearish’ territory.

Some retail investors considered the shares undervalued. One user said, “I like undervalued $CAG and $KHC.”

Another user said, “According to TipRanks data, the analyst has a success rate of 37.8% and a total average return of -9.7% over the past year. Her downgrade should be treated as a BUY.”

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