Shares of consumer-staples giant Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC) dropped on Wednesday after the company reported results for the fourth quarter. The company's brands are well known and popular, but sales volume nonetheless fell in 2023, disappointing investors. As of 11:30 a.m. ET, Kraft Heinz stock was down about 6%.

Kraft Heinz disappointed the market with its top-line results. The company's 2023 net sales were up 0.6%, but this was due to its price hikes. By contrast, its sales volume and mix fell by 5.5% year over year. That was in line with a broader trend this earnings season -- sales volumes for brand-name consumer-goods companies have fallen as they've raised their prices.

Turning to the bottom line, things initially looked much better. Kraft Heinz enjoyed full-year net income of $2.8 billion, up a whopping 20% from 2022. However, its results in 2022 included a large one-time impairment charge while its 2023 results did not. Factoring that out of the calculation, Kraft Heinz's adjusted earnings per share (EPS) only rose 7% year over year.

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Source Fool.com