Pre-Thanksgiving lift for Hormel Foods as third quarter sales beat forecasts despite turkey glut

Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE:HRL) shares rose in pre-market trading after the food company saw its fiscal fourth quarter profit and revenue beat expectations despite sales declining due to a glut of turkeys.

The firm -  whose other brands include Spam and Skippy peanut butter – posted net income for the quarter to October 29 of US$218.2mln, or 41 US cents a share, down from US$243.9mln, or 45 US cents a share a year ago but above consensus for 40 US cents.

Hormel – the second largest turkey processor in the US – said its quarterly revenue declined to US$2.49bn, down from US$2.63bn a year earlier, but that was also above consensus of US$2.42bn.

The group said refrigerated foods revenue fell by 5.7% to US$1.17bn, just shy of consensus of US$1.18bn, while grocery products revenue declined by 0.5% to US$489.5mln but beat expectations for US$429.3mln.

Looking ahead, Hormel said it expects 2018 EPS of US$1.60 to US$1.70, against expectations of US$1.63, and revenue of US$9.40bn to US$9.80bn, compared with consensus of US$9.65bn.

In pre-market trading, Hormel shares were 3.3% higher at US$34.50.

Story by ProactiveInvestors