May 16, 2013
Kohl’s Q1 Profit Shrinks, Still Tops Expectations
 Kohl’s Corp. (KSS) on Thursday reported a slight decline in sales during the first quarter that dampened profits, but improving margins helped the retailer book higher earnings during the quarter than analysts had predicted. Fewer shares outstanding in the latest quarter compared to last year equated to a 5-percent increase in earnings per share, even with profits lower by 4 percent. For the quarter ended May 4, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based Kohl’s reported revenue of $4.2 billion, a 1.0 percent decrease from the $4.24 billion in the year prior quarter. Net income totaled $147 million, or 66 cents per share, compared to $154 million, or 63 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2012. The earnings surpassed the high-end of Kohl’s February guidance of profits between 55 cents and 63 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting earnings per share (more)…
May 6, 2013
Higher Costs Eat Into Tyson Foods Second Quarter Profit Margins
 Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), one of the largest chicken processors and marketers in the world, Monday reported a bigger-than-expected decline in second-quarter profits, pressured by lower margins as feed costs remained high due to last year’s drought. Further, the Springdale, Arkansas-based company cut its full year forecast, sending shares lower in early trading action. For the quarter, Tyson reported revenue of $8.42 billion, up from $8.27 billion in the same quarter last year. Net income tumbled to $95 million, or 26 cents per share, from $166 million, or 44 cents per share, in the year prior quarter. Adjusted net income, which excludes an impairment charge on non-core assets in China and a currency translation gain, totaled 36 cents per share. Wall Street was expecting adjusted profits of 45 cents per share on revenue of $8.6 billion. Tyson boosted its prices (more)…
S&P Capital IQ Trends & Ideas: Investing Inside the Box Biz
 S&P Capital IQ Trends & Ideas: Equity Analyst Stuart Benway joins Beth Piskora, S&P Capital IQ Editorial, to discuss why investors should care about the seemingly mundane topic of cardboard boxes. To read this and all Trends & Ideas content, please visit www.marketscope.com.
May 3, 2013
Kraft Foods Spikes on Earnings, Cheese Sales
 The recently spun-off company Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (KRFT) reported earnings late on Thursday that showed the maker of the perennial children’s staple macaroni & cheese, and the equally popular adult staple Maxwell House Coffee bringing in a first quarter profit of $456 million, or $0.76 per share on revenue of $4.5 billion. While down from the prior year period, during which the company netted $483 million, or $0.82 per share, Kraft topped EPS expectations of $0.64 per share on revenue of $4.48 billion. The earnings-per-share figure in particular was all the more impressive considering that the first quarter of 2013 included a total of $0.25 per share in combined restructuring charges ($120 million) and interest expenses. Kraft’s performance in the first quarter was buttressed by revenue gains from drink and refrigerated meals sales, with particularly strong showings from Kool-Aid (more)…
Dole Profits Slide on Corporate Divestures
 Shares of Dole Food Company, Inc. (DOLE) lost ground in extended trading on Thursday, relinquishing gains from the regular session after the fresh fruit and vegetable producer said that it swung to a first-quarter loss, largely because of corporate divestures in business lines. Comparables were complex for the quarter as compared to the year prior quarter as Dole has been aiming to cut costs and gain a sharper focus on its businesses. For the quarter, Westlake Village, California-based Dole reported revenue of $1.05 billion, down 3 percent from $1.09 billion in the first quarter of 2012. The company posted a net loss of $65.6 million, compared to a net profit of $17.2 million in the year prior quarter. Revenues were partially impacted by the 2012 sale of Dole’s German ripening and distribution subsidiary. Excluding that divesture, sales would have increased (more)…
May 2, 2013
Valero Pops on Convenience Store Brands Spin-Off Debut
 Shares for Valero Energy (VLO) were up more than 4.6 percent on Thursday to $37.02 as the company’s plan to spin off its convenience-store business into a separate publicly traded entity became official. CST Brands Inc. (CST) is the name and ticker symbol of the new company that began trading today. It makes its debut on the market as North America’s second largest publicly traded convenience retailer. 2012 revenue for CST Brands alone was approximately $13 billion. The move comes as Valero’s first quarter earnings report from Tuesday showed the company bringing in a profit after Q1 2012 was hampered by costs of some $1.09 per share, resulting primarily from trouble at one of its refineries in Aruba. For the first quarter of 2013, Valero earned $654 million or $1.18 per share on revenue of $35.17 billion, versus the prior (more)…
April 29, 2013
Good Buys Emerge in Beaten-Down China Consumer Secfor
 Investors can ill afford to ignore China’s consumer sector with its hundreds of millions of participants, especially since long-term government policies like urbanization are designed to increase their numbers and spending power. But it may seem that’s exactly what investors should do in the face of a year-and-a-half of slowing consumer spending growth and recent lackluster corporate results caused by shorter-term government measures to fight inflation. Analysts generally don’t expect an immediate turnaround for the sector as a whole. But they assert investors can find good value by being selective. UOB Kay Hian Securities said in a recent research note, “…we think the recent pullback is a good time to seek out quality names at reasonable prices.” Finding good quality means looking for solid growth prospects, attractive valuations and fundamental drivers for longer-term growth, UOB said. The two companies that (more)…
April 24, 2013
Dr. Pepper Snapple Hits All-Time High on Strong Q1 Profit
 Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (DPS), the third largest soft drink maker in the U.S., reported on Wednesday that profits in the first quarter were better than analysts expected, helped in part by the launch of its new 10-calorie sodas, price increases and less discounting, offsetting 4 percent lower sales volume. The Plano, Texas-based company said net sales rose slightly from $1.36 billion in the first quarter of 2012 to $1.38 billion in the latest quarter. Net income increased to $106 million, or 51 cents per share, compared to $102 million, or 48 cents per share, in the year prior quarter. Excluding an unrealized commodity mark-to-market loss this year and an unrealized mark-to-market gain last year, core earnings were 53 cents in Q1 2013 and 46 cents in Q1 2012. Revenue was a bit light of the $1.39 billion Wall (more)…
BofA Doesn’t Think Yum! Brands is Too Tasty Ahead of Earnings Beat
 Yum Brands, Inc. (YUM) was hit with an analyst downgrades on Tuesday morning, only hours ahead of it releasing its financial report for the first quarter after the closing bell. The report stated that sales in China were impacted substantially “by adverse publicity from the poultry supply situation in late December 2012,” however earnings from the quarter handily topped Wall Street expectations. For the quarter, Yum Brands, who operates about 5,300 restaurants (primarily Kentucky Fried Chicken locations) in China, reported revenue of $2.54 billion, down from $2.74 billion in the first quarter of 2012. Net income fell to $337 million, or 72 cents per share, compared to $458 million, or 96 cents per share in last year’s quarter. Excluding special items, Yum’s earnings were 70 cents per share, versus 76 cents per share in the year prior quarter. Analysts were (more)…
April 19, 2013
DOJ Gives Anheuser-Busch InBev the Go Ahead with Grupo Modelo Acquisition
 The second largest merger in the history of beer has finally garnered government approval, as most thought it eventually would. Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) said Friday that it, Grupo Modelo, Constellation Brands, Inc. (STZ) and Crown Imports, LLC have reached a final agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Anheuser-Busch InBev’s acquisition of the remaining portion of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it doesn’t already own. Last year, Anheuser-Busch InBev offered $20.1 billion to buy the remaining shares of Grupo Modelo. On January 31, the Justice Department filed a suit to stop the acquisition on antitrust objections that the deal would give A-B inBev too much control over the American beer industry, meaning it could raise prices and cut selections. To avoid that situation, the deal was struck to have Constellation Brands buy Anheuser-Busch’s 50 percent stake in Crown Imports. (more)…
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