Rice Giant Camil Sinks 18% After Its Profit Falls by More Than Half

3 Key Points

—Camil Alimentos (CAML3) opened Brazil's Q2 earnings season with a fiscal first-quarter (March–May) net profit of R$28 million ($5.5M), down 57.6% from R$66 million ($13M) a year earlier; the stock answered with an 18.18% collapse to R$4.41 — its low of the day — and slid further to R$4.30 the following session, within 7% of its 52-week floor.

—The damage is a price story, not a demand story: international volumes jumped 26% while realized prices fell 32%, dragging the segment's adjusted EBITDA down 48% to R$36 million ($7M); Brazil held the line with EBITDA up 2% to R$164 million ($32M) on revenue of R$2.0 billion ($392M), volumes up 14% and prices down a milder 8%.

—Bradesco BBI calls 2026 harder than expected and Camil the most rate-sensitive profit in its coverage; Itaú BBA still sees long-term value with El Niño rice prices as the catalyst — and at 0.50x book value with a consensus target of R$7.50, some 74% above the price, the stock now trades as a deep-value rate-cut option.

Camil Results Fiscal 1Q26: What Happened

01What Happened

Camil Alimentos S.A. (B3: CAML3) is Brazil's dominant packaged staple-foods group — rice above all, plus beans, sugar, canned fish, pasta and coffee — with operations stretching into Uruguay, Chile, Peru and Ecuador. Its fiscal year runs March to February, which is why it opens every Brazilian earnings season: the quarter it reported on July 14 covers March through May 2026.

One-stop reference

Company Intelligence

Every listed company in Latin America — financials, ownership and structure for 1,450+ companies across 26 exchanges, in one place.

Browse the directory →

Net profit came in at R$28 million ($5.5M), 57.6% below the R$66 million ($13M) of the same quarter last year. The number was weak but broadly anticipated; what the market punished was the composition. CAML3 fell 18.18% to R$4.41 the next session, closing on its low, per InfoMoney's account, and drifted to R$4.30 the day after.

Company Intelligence · Market Data

Ticker / listingCAML3 · B3 Novo Mercado

Share price (Jul 16 close)R$4.30

Market capR$1.47 bn ($288M)

52-week rangeR$4.02 – R$7.31

Trailing P/E14.3x

Price / book0.50x

EV / EBITDA6.3x

Wall Street target (consensus)R$7.50

EPS (TTM / est. FY26)R$0.30 / R$0.58

Revenue (TTM)R$11.1 bn ($2.2B)

Shares out / free float341.1M / 9.1%

Insider holding70.0%

Dividend yield0%

Beta0.30

50 / 200-day averageR$5.31 / R$5.85

Source: EODHD market data, July 16, 2026. Figures may lag intraday trading.

The panel explains the violence of the move. With a free float of barely 9%, CAML3 trades thin; a disappointment meets few natural buyers. And at half of book value, the market is pricing not a bad quarter but a structurally difficult year.

Company Intelligence · Company Profile

CompanyCamil Alimentos S.A.

Sector / industryConsumer Defensive · Packaged Foods

HeadquartersSão Paulo, Brazil

CEOLuciano Maggi Quartiero

CFO / IRFlavio Jardim Vargas

FootprintBrazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Ecuador

Fiscal yearMarch – February

ListingB3 Novo Mercado

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 16, 2026.

Key Drivers Behind the Camil Results

02Key Drivers

Grain deflation is the core of it. Rice prices have fallen hard from their 2024-25 peaks across the Mercosur growing belt, and Camil's international arm — Uruguay is a major rice exporter — caught the full force: 26% more volume sold, 32% lower prices, revenue down 15%. When prices fall faster than volumes rise, mills earn less on every additional ton they move.

Brazil behaved differently. Domestic net revenue rose 5% to R$2.0 billion ($392M), volumes grew 14%, and realized prices fell only 8% — better than the sell side feared. Adjusted domestic EBITDA edged up 2% to R$164 million ($32M) at an 8.1% margin. The home market's brand strength is doing what commodity exposure abroad cannot.

Financing costs complete the squeeze. Staple-foods processing runs on working capital, and with the Selic still elevated, interest expense eats a company earning R$28 million ($5M) a quarter alive. Bradesco BBI ranks Camil the single most rate-sensitive earnings profile in its coverage universe.

Camil Fiscal 1Q26 Financial Detail

03Financial Detail

Metric

1Q25 (fiscal)

1Q26 (fiscal)

Chg

Net profit

R$66.0 mn ($13M)

R$28.0 mn ($5.5M)

−57.6%

Brazil net revenue

R$1.90 bn ($372M)

R$2.00 bn ($392M)

+5%

Brazil adj. EBITDA

R$161 mn ($32M)

R$164 mn ($32M)

+2%

Brazil EBITDA margin

8.3%

8.1%

−20 bps

International adj. EBITDA

R$69 mn ($14M)

R$36 mn ($7M)

−48%

International volumes

—

—

+26%

International realized prices

—

—

−32%

Note the asymmetry: the international book grew volumes faster than any other line in the company and still halved its earnings. That is what a price war against a bumper crop looks like on a P&L.

Five-Year Track Record

The consolidated accounts frame the quarter's problem precisely: Camil grew revenue 48% over five fiscal years while net income fell by more than two thirds. Scale went up; the price environment took the profit anyway:

Fiscal year (Feb-end)

Revenue

EBITDA

Net income

FY2022

R$7.5 bn ($1.5B)

R$886 mn ($174M)

R$478 mn ($94M)

FY2023

R$9.0 bn ($1.8B)

R$1.06 bn ($208M)

R$478 mn ($94M)

FY2024

R$11.2 bn ($2.2B)

R$1.11 bn ($218M)

R$360 mn ($71M)

FY2025

R$12.3 bn ($2.4B)

R$1.18 bn ($231M)

R$217 mn ($43M)

FY2026

R$11.1 bn ($2.2B)

R$901 mn ($177M)

R$148 mn ($29M)

Balance Sheet Snapshot

Company Intelligence · Balance Sheet (May 31, 2026)

Total debtR$5.9 bn ($1.2B)

Cash & equivalentsR$1.4 bn ($274M)

Net debtR$4.5 bn ($882M)

Shareholders' equityR$3.0 bn ($588M)

Return on equity (TTM)4.6%

Operating margin (TTM)4.8%

Source: EODHD company fundamentals, July 16, 2026.

Net debt of R$4.5 billion ($882M) sits against R$3.0 billion ($588M) of equity and a trailing consolidated EBITDA of roughly R$830 million ($163M) — leverage in the region of five times trailing EBITDA on EODHD's consolidated figures (the company's own adjusted measure runs lower, but the direction is the same). With the Selic still in double digits, that debt stack is the mechanism by which Bradesco BBI's 'most rate-sensitive name in coverage' verdict becomes arithmetic: interest expense currently absorbs most of what the operations earn.

What the Banks Say About Camil

04Analyst Signals

Bradesco BBI: 2026 is proving harder than expected, low grain prices may persist until the 2026-27 harvest brings supply visibility, and free cash flow will stay constrained while rates stay high. Itaú BBA: there is still long-term value to unlock; Brazilian gross margin was the quarter's positive surprise, though its repeatability is unproven. BBA's catalyst: a stronger El Niño lifting rice-price expectations for the next crop.

The consensus target of R$7.50 implies 74% upside — a number that says less about conviction than about how far the stock has fallen below any reasonable through-cycle valuation. Value investors will note 0.50x book; skeptics will note there is no dividend while they wait.

What to Watch Next for Camil

05What to Watch Next

Rice prices: Southern-cone crop forecasts and any El Niño intensification are the single biggest swing factor for fiscal 2026. Selic path: as the coverage's most rate-sensitive name, every cut repriced into the curve matters more here than almost anywhere on the B3. Fiscal 2Q26 (June–August), due in October: whether Brazil's margin resilience holds and international prices find a floor. Leverage: net debt trends while EBITDA is compressed.

Risks Facing Camil

06Risks

Grain deflation could run longer than the banks assume if the 2026-27 harvest disappoints expectations of tightness. The 9% free float cuts both ways — thin liquidity amplifies any downside surprise. High rates for longer would extend the financing squeeze. And El Niño, the bull catalyst, is a weather forecast: it may simply not deliver.

Brazilian Staple Foods Sector Context

07Sector Context

Camil's quarter is the cleanest read anywhere on what cheap food is doing to South America's farm-belt processors. The same price collapse that squeezes a rice miller in São Paulo is relief for consumers and for central banks fighting inflation — one reason Brazil's IPCA prints keep surprising to the downside. For foreign investors the stock has become a leveraged bet on two reversals at once: grain prices and Brazilian interest rates. Neither is dated; both are priced at half of book.

This report is part of The Rio Times' Company Intelligence coverage of B3-listed companies. It is journalism, not investment advice.