At-home cooking powers Kraft's upbeat results

As eager as people are to eat out and travel, it appears many are still opting to cook at home, and that's stirring up business at Kraft Heinz. Quarterly sales and profit at the maker of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese topped Wall Street's targets on Wednesday.

A senior executive said the cooking boom and eating behaviors inspired by the health crisis are sticking even as more vaccinated people venture out.

While growth could slow from the peak days of the crisis, analysts anticipate the sales boom to last as remote working trends stay largely in place.

Another issue, higher costs for ingredients, has plagued packaged food makers, but Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio said the level of inflation is manageable.

His company issued an optimistic outlook, raising its annual forecast for adjusted profit. Although it sees quarterly organic sales slightly declining compared to last year when panic buying caused sales to balloon, it predicts it'll grow compared to the pre-crisis period two years ago.

Shares of Kraft Heinz fell in early trading Wednesday.