What Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG) said on its Q4 earnings call. November 8, 2026 Key points. * Scotts forecast fiscal 2027 net sales growth of 2% to 4% and adjusted EPS of $4.70 to $4.90, despite up to $100 million in commodity cost headwinds and elevated retailer inventories. * Pricing, product mix and cost savings are expected to support margins: the company plans average price increases of about 4% and at least $35 million in supply chain savings, while projecting adjusted gross margin expansion. * The $55 million Black Kow acquisition is expected to add 1 to 2 percentage points to fiscal 2027 sales growth. Scotts also plans to generate about $275 million in free cash flow and prioritize debt reduction toward its 2029 leverage target. * Five stocks to consider instead of Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts Miracle-Gro NYSE: SMG expects sales and earnings to grow in fiscal 2027, even as the lawn and garden products company prepares for higher commodity costs and elevated retailer inventories. The company forecast net sales growth of 2% to 4% and adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $4.70 to $4.90 per share. The outlook follows a fiscal 2026 in which annual sales rose 1% and adjusted earnings per share increased 18%, despite an 11% decline in fourth-quarter sales. President and CEO Nate Baxter said the company built its plan to withstand a range of economic conditions rather than rely on an improvement in consumer spending or the housing market. Management expects growth from its Black Kow acquisition, new products, additional retail listings and targeted price increases. "We built the plan so we could be flat to slightly down in top-line and still deliver on our guidance," Baxter said during the earnings call, pointing to flexibility in expenses and other parts of the business. Branded products lift margins. For fiscal 2026, Scotts reported net sales of $3.29 billion, up from $3.26 billion a year earlier. Fourth-quarter sales fell to $303 million as retailers slowed purchases following earlier seasonal ordering, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer Mark Scheiwer said. Management attributed the modest annual sales increase to a shift away from lower-margin mulch and commodity products. Branded products contributed 4 percentage points to sales growth, offsetting planned declines in those other lines. Adjusted gross margin rose to 32.4% from 31.6%, helped by the product mix, targeted pricing and $35 million in supply chain savings. GAAP gross margin increased to 32.3% from 31.3%. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations were $4.48 per diluted share, while GAAP earnings from continuing operations were $3.30 per share. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 2% to $580 million. Free cash flow was $278 million. Discover more MarketBeat All Access MarketBeat Portfolio Tracker MarketBeat Research Tools Baxter said the broader lawn and garden category grew more than 5% in fiscal 2026, although Scotts did not capture its full share of that growth. Branded point-of-sale dollars increased about 1% overall. E-commerce point-of-sale dollars grew 24% and represented 13% of sales, compared with about 10% a year earlier. Pricing and cost savings to offset inflation. Scotts expects as much as $100 million in commodity headwinds in fiscal 2027, Scheiwer said. The company plans average price increases of about 4% across its portfolio, though it is not raising prices in some more price-sensitive categories, including core weed control. Head of Sales Josh Meihls said the company expects the benefit of pricing to be about 2% after accounting for consumers' response to higher prices. Scheiwer described pricing as the biggest lever for offsetting commodity inflation, with supply chain savings providing an additional benefit. The company is targeting at least $35 million in supply chain savings in fiscal 2027. About 55% of its cost of goods was locked in ahead of the year, compared with roughly 40% at the same point historically, Baxter said. More than 80% of urea requirements were locked, and Scheiwer said diesel and fuel-related costs were more than 50% locked. Scotts expects adjusted gross margin to expand again in fiscal 2027. Scheiwer said the increase would likely be closer to the low end of the company's medium-term target of 50 to 100 basis points, given uncertainty around commodity costs. Inventory and acquisition shape outlook. Retailer inventories ended fiscal 2026 up by low-single-digit percentages at Scotts' largest retailers. Scheiwer said the company has incorporated a low-single-digit sales headwind from those inventories into its outlook. Meihls said the company does not expect a broad inventory drawdown in fiscal 2027 and instead anticipates levels remaining relatively flat. He said some of the earlier buildup supported category growth, while slower sell-through in May also contributed to higher inventories. The $55 million acquisition of Black Kow is expected to contribute 1 to 2 percentage points of fiscal 2027 sales growth and add to operating margin and earnings per share, Scheiwer said. Scotts exercised its option to buy the brand on Oct. 1 after becoming its exclusive distributor earlier in the year. Management also expects growth from new retail listings, innovation and pricing. Baxter said first-half performance would probably be roughly flat with the prior year, with growth concentrated in the second half. Debt reduction remains a priority. Scotts ended fiscal 2026 with net debt of 3.89 times adjusted EBITDA, down 0.21 turns from a year earlier. It is targeting leverage of 3 to 3.5 times by the end of fiscal 2029. The company expects approximately $275 million in free cash flow in fiscal 2027 and about $130 million in supply chain and information technology capital spending. It repurchased $25 million of shares in the fourth quarter under a $500 million authorization. Baxter said debt repayment and investment in the business remain priorities. Any repurchases in fiscal 2027 would be opportunistic and would depend on the company viewing its shares as severely undervalued, he said. About Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG). Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a provider of consumer lawn and garden products headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. The company develops and markets products designed to help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens, landscapes and indoor plants. Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant food, gardening products, pest-control solutions, soils and related growing supplies. Key consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat. The company also has a history of serving the controlled-environment agriculture and hydroponics markets through specialized growing products and supplies. Scotts Miracle-Gro was founded in 1868 and has built a broad distribution network serving retail customers, garden centers and other outlets. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. Before you consider Scotts Miracle-Gro, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Scotts Miracle-Gro wasn't on the list. While Scotts Miracle-Gro currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. MarketBeat just released its list of the 7 hottest IPOs expected to hit Wall Street in 2026. See which companies are preparing to go public and why investors are watching closely. Continue following MarketBeat

Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) stock gets price target boost from UBS Group. Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at UBS Group from $70.00 to $77.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the basic materials company's stock. UBS Group's target price points to a potential upside of 16.08% from the company's current price. A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SMG. Wall Street Zen cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scotts Miracle-Gro presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $74.80. Scotts Miracle-Gro price performance. Shares of SMG traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $66.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,905,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 985,308. Scotts Miracle-Gro has a twelve month low of $47.90 and a twelve month high of $75.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $55.50 and its 200-day moving average is $61.93. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.68 and a beta of 1.87. Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported ($2.16) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.21) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $302.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.11 million. Scotts Miracle-Gro had a negative return on equity of 81.90% and a net margin of 2.19%. Scotts Miracle-Gro's quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.63) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Scotts Miracle-Gro will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year. Insiders place their bets. In other Scotts Miracle-Gro news, Director Mark D. Kingdon sold 831 shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.65, for a total value of $51,231.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,827 shares in the company, valued at approximately $667,484.55. The trade was a 7.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 24.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Institutional trading of Scotts Miracle-Gro. Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 51.6% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 18,507 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 6,298 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 0.7% in the third quarter. Compass Financial Management LLC now owns 31,973 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Scotts Miracle-Gro during the 3rd quarter worth about $234,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 5,391.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 2,526 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 2,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Scotts Miracle-Gro by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,765 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.07% of the company's stock. Here are the key news stories impacting Scotts Miracle-Gro this week: * Management forecast fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS of $4.70-$4.90 and sales growth of 2%-4%, citing contributions from Black Kow and targeted pricing. The company also said fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS exceeded guidance and gross margins expanded. * Fourth-quarter loss of $2.16 per share was narrower than analysts expected, and management said it strengthened the balance sheet during fiscal 2026. * Scotts declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, payable December 4 to shareholders of record November 20. * JPMorgan cut its price target to $67 from $70 and maintained a neutral rating, implying limited upside from the cited share price. * Quarterly revenue was $302.9 million, below expectations and down 10.9% year over year. The earnings beat was modest and the company still reported a quarterly loss. About Scotts Miracle-Gro. Scotts Miracle-Gro Company is a provider of consumer lawn and garden products headquartered in Marysville, Ohio. The company develops and markets products designed to help consumers grow and maintain lawns, gardens, landscapes and indoor plants. Its portfolio includes lawn fertilizers, grass seed, plant food, gardening products, pest-control solutions, soils and related growing supplies. Key consumer brands include Scotts, Miracle-Gro, Ortho and Tomcat. The company also has a history of serving the controlled-environment agriculture and hydroponics markets through specialized growing products and supplies. Scotts Miracle-Gro was founded in 1868 and has built a broad distribution network serving retail customers, garden centers and other outlets. 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