The Hershey Company HSY

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-defensive

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
65/100
Moderate

Ranked against 264 peers in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services

About The Hershey Company

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. The company offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein … Full HSY analysis →

Key strengths

  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.78), suggesting sticky customer base.
  • Cash Generation Consistent Cash generation is consistent (score 0.90), indicating reliable business model.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Pricing Power

Moderate
59
Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

Premium

Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where HSY ranks in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services

The Hershey Company ranks #72 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services by moat score — the top 27%. The widest moat in the group is Brown Forman Inc (BF-A) at 93/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
68 Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. LW 66/100 Moderate
69 Universal Technical Institute I UTI 66/100 Moderate
70 US Foods Holding Corp. USFD 66/100 Moderate
71 New Oriental Education & Techno EDU 66/100 Moderate
72 The Hershey Company HSY 65/100 Moderate
73 PriceSmart, Inc. PSMT 65/100 Moderate
74 Acme ACU 65/100 Moderate
75 Kroger Company (The) KR 64/100 Moderate
76 Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ADM 64/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How HSY scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 59 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 74 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 85 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 65 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 57 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 52 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding HSY's moat

What is The Hershey Company's moat score?

The Hershey Company (HSY) scores 65 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #72 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services, the top 27%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 264 companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (85/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (52/100).

How does The Hershey Company compare with other Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services companies?

The Hershey Company ranks #72 of 265 scored companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services by moat score. The widest moat in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services is Brown Forman Inc (BF-A) at 93/100. The companies ranked closest are New Oriental Education & Techno (EDU) at 66 just above it and PriceSmart, Inc. (PSMT) at 65 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 264 companies in Consumer Defensive: Staples & Essential Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is The Hershey Company scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for The Hershey Company?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and HSY scores: Pricing Power (59), Cost Advantage (74), Customer Stickiness (85), Capital Efficiency (65), Resilience (57), Scale & Market Position (52). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000