Shares of The Hershey Co. (HSY) advanced 5% Thursday when the chocolate maker reported better-than-anticipated results as price hikes helped offset the rising cost of cocoa.

The company with brands including its namesake chocolate bar, Reese's Pieces, and Almond Joy posted fourth-quarter adjusted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:earnings per share (EPS) of $2.69, with revenue up nearly 9% year-over-year to $2.89 billion. Both beat🍬 Visible Alpha estimates.

Hershey noted that its "net price realization, higher sales volume, supply chain productivity, and a timing benefit related to the inventory valuation method more than offset higher commodity costs and negative sales mix."

The company also slashed selling, marketing, and administrative expenses by 5.5% on lower compensation and benefi📖ts costs and a drop in capability and technology investments.

Highe✃r Commodity Cost🦹s Seen Impacting Full-Year Profit

However, the company warned that it anticipates full-year EPS to be down by a high-40% range because of "higher commodity costs, rebased incentive compensation, and a higher economic tax rate," and adjusted EPS down by a mid-30% range. It sees net sales growing at least 2%.

Chocolatiers have been hit hard by soaring cocoa prices, which hit an all-time high in December and have doubled over the past year. Even with today's gains, Hershey shares have lost more than 20% of their value over the past 12 months.