Company profile
SEC EDGAR ↗- Industry
- Sugar & Confectionery Products
- Listed
- NYSE: HSY
- Incorporated
- DE
- Headquarters
- Hershey, PA
- Fiscal year end
- Dec 31
Financials
FY2025- Revenue
- $11.7B
- Net income
- $883.3M
- Total assets
- $13.7B
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Total assets |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $11.7B | $883.3M | $13.7B |
| FY2024 | $11.2B | $2.22B | $12.9B |
| FY2023 | $11.2B | $1.86B | $11.9B |
| FY2022 | $10.4B | $1.64B | $10.9B |
| FY2021 | $8.97B | $1.48B | $10.4B |
| FY2020 | $8.15B | $1.28B | $9.13B |
Reported fiscal years from SEC filings (10-K) — SEC EDGAR ↗. Stratrix is a strategy publication, not a real-time financial data service.
Decisions on record
2 verified Decision Cases on Hershey, and the casebook each one belongs to.
| Fork date | Decision type | What Hershey chose | Where it stood | The story | Casebook |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | The Counterfactual | Sell the company | Seven trustees who voted to sell were removed; ten of seventeen ultimately forced out (2002) | Read the story → | The Counterfactual Casebook → |
| 2016 | Moat Anatomy | Reject Mondelēz bid | Mondelēz formally ended discussions after the bid was rejected (2016-08) | Read the story → | Moat Anatomy Casebook → |
Run one of these yourself
The decisions Hershey faced, as kits you can run.
Each pack takes one of these decisions and gives you the framework, a deck for the room, a model that resolves to one number, and the sourced cases behind it. $499, one-time.
Decision ForksThe Road Not TakenWhat did the decision you did not take actually cost?See the pack →People & ControlThe Founder ControlWhat does holding control cost you, and what must it be worth?See the pack →Moat & CompetitionThe Moat AnatomyWhat would it actually cost a challenger to take your customer?See the pack →
The analyses
The Counterfactual · Decision Forks
The Hershey Trust Approved the $12.5 Billion Sale. A Judge and a 1909 Deed Killed It.
Everyone remembers the Trust killing a $12.5 billion takeover to keep Hershey independent. The Trust actually started the sale and voted yes. The real blocker was a judge, an attorney general, and a deed signed in 1909 that makes Hershey unsellable no matter who's on the board.
8 min
The Founder Doctrine · People & Control
Hershey Can't Be Sold Without an Orphan School's Permission. That's by Design.
In 1918 Milton Hershey gave away his entire company - 5,000 shares worth $60 million - to a trust for an orphan school. A century later that trust holds ~80% of the voting power and has already killed a $12.5 billion takeover.
8 min
The Moat Anatomy · Moat & Competition
Hershey Walked Away From $23 Billion Partly to Keep Making Kit Kat Under License
Hershey makes Cadbury and Kit Kat in the US under license, not ownership. In 2016 it rejected a $23 billion Mondelēz bid — partly because buying Hershey would hand the Kit Kat license back to Nestlé for free.
7 min
Tools to try
- Ansoff move finderFramework: Ansoff Matrix
- Business model canvas builderFramework: Business Model Canvas
- Change readiness checkFramework: Kotter's 8-Step Change Model
- Five Forces scorerFramework: Porter's Five Forces
- SMART goal builderFramework: SMART Goals
- SWOT builderFramework: SWOT Analysis
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