The price disparity between salty snacks and chocolate is resulting in a shift in consumer spending, which is being exacerbated by consumers’ increasing caution with their spending on food and a generational shift to non-chocolate confections.

Key Takeaways Jefferies analysts downgraded Hershey to underperform and lowered their price target.The firm said chocolate is trailing other snacks in volume growth and is being bought less frequently despite being the largest category in dollar sales.

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day: 1. Retreat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both retreated from recent records on Wednesday.