cag

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) beat earnings expectations but revenue was hurt by currency effects.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) strong Q1 results beat estimates but same-store sales fell.
• CKE Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: CKR) lower Q1 earnings and strong sales both topped expectations.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) higher Q4 earnings were in line with expectations, and shares slipped.
• Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI) Q4 results were higher, but it warned of continuing challenges.
• Hennes & Mauritz (OTC: HMRZF) reported strong Q2 numbers, though same-stores sales slipped.

Food processor ConAgra (NYSE: CAG), whose products share space at the supermarket with Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Kellogg (NYSE: K), and Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), is down in Thursday's afternoon trading by over 6% as I write this. The company released earnings for the fourth quarter earlier this morning. Sales increased 8% according to the press release. Adjusted earnings from continuing operations came in at 41 cents per diluted share. This result benefited from an extra week.

The per-share profit compared very favorably to the 18 cents earned in last year's similar quarter. However, in terms of analyst expectations, the performance was relatively unimpressive. Earnings.com indicates that 41 cents is what the market was looking for.

Shares of Del Monte (NYSE: DLM) are up over 9% in early afternoon trading. And the volume is doing gangbusters business. The market is responding to the company's fourth-quarter results. The numbers did tell an overall fun story.

To begin with, revenues saw a big jump of 20%. As many news items have pointed out, price increases helped out. It should also be pointed out that the company's press release indicated that an extra week skewed things a bit. That's okay, though, it was still a good top-line performance. Earnings per share from continuing divisions came in at $0.35, which meant that Del Monte grew the bottom line by 75% (a couple elements affecting the perception of this profit expansion was a better tax situation linked to a positive change in California tax code and a $0.04 per-share transformation expense recorded in Q4 2008). Analysts said the company might earn $0.26 per share. That's a pleasant difference, isn't it?

Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) hasn't been a bad stock. Its recent performance is firmly in the green. Shares of Hormel have increased in value by 8% year-to-date. Over the last six months, the stock is up by roughly 16%.

Now we come to the food entity's second-quarter report, which was issued on Thursday. Do the numbers indicate that the stock will continue to trend higher? Or is now the time to sell?

On Friday, Standard & Poor's lowered its corporate credit rating for ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG). The ratings firm lowered CAG's rating to "BBB" from "BBB+" and removed all ratings on the company from CreditWatch with negative implications, attributing the move to weak credit and high operating costs.

S&P noted that higher operating costs have hurt margins, particularly in CAG's consumer foods segment. This part of CAG's business brought in 64% of the firm's fiscal 2008 revenue.

S&P believes that CAG will "modestly improve" credit measures from current levels during the next two years. S&P could revise CAG's outlook to negative if the firm becomes more aggressive in its financial policy. Currently, CAG's outlook is stable.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) said revenues and bookings both declined in the most recent quarter.
• Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) reported strong Q4 results in the wake of Circuit City's demise.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) sailed past analysts' Q1 projections, sending shares higher.
• ConAgra Foods Inc. (NYSE: CAG) Q3 results topped analysts expectations and drove shares higher.
• DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) swung to a larger-than-expected Q4 loss and revenue slipped.
• DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) reported a bigger-than-expected Q4 loss as same-store sales declined.

Analyst upgrades:

• JP Morgan upgraded J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) to Neutral from Underweight based on lower input costs, stabilization in home, lower markdown dollars, and valuation.
• Oppenheimer upgraded Novellus (NASDAQ: NVLS) to Perform from Underperform as it believes Novellus' market share has stabilized and that the company is a potential acquisition target. The firm raised its price target to $20 from $9.
• Bernstein upgraded ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) to Market Perform from Underperform citing strength in grains and moderating input costs.
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was raised to Buy from Neutral at Goldman.
• China Housing (NASDAQ: CHLN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Roth Capital.

Supermarket staple ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) reported earnings for the third quarter on Thursday. Wall Street was bullish on the company since the bottom-line performance beat the expectations of analysts. Shares of the stock closed up over 9% at the end of yesterday's trading session.

Sales increased slightly over 6% and net income came in at 40 cents per diluted share on an adjusted basis. That was good for an 18% growth rate on the bottom line. Market analysts were only counting on 36 cents per share. So, you can see why the market was excited.

HJ Heinz Co. (NYSE: HNZ) recently learned inadvertently how strong its brand was with consumers.

The company had announced that it was going to change the label on its flagship brand of ketchup. It seemed entirely reasonable and appropriate to drop the pickle from the label and replace it with a tomato.

Little did the company expect to encounter outrage from consumers, who launched a "Save the Pickle" campaign, complete with a blog, and an organized letter and e-mail avalanche.

Kraft (NYSE: KFT), a brand that shares the supermarket aisles with General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) and ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), was hammered on Wednesday.

The company's shares were down over 9% at the close of trading. Kraft's earnings release may have began with a headline that said earnings were strong for the year, but the market thought otherwise. And so did I.

Kraft (NYSE: KFT), whose supermarket colleagues include Kellogg (NYSE: K) and General Mills (NYSE: GIS), will be reporting Q4 results tomorrow. Analysts expect the foodstuffs company to report $0.44 per share. Unfortunately, Kraft did $0.44 per share in the year-ago period. So the market doesn't think Kraft will grow the bottom line.

Perhaps that will work in Kraft's favor. With expectations so low, management has the opportunity to surprise to the upside. The company has a decent record in beating Wall Street expectations. Kraft certainly has brands that people like. However, things are becoming more difficult for the consumer. Layoffs are everywhere, and job security has taken a sabbatical. Kraft needs to convince people to pay extra for a package of Kraft-branded cheese or a box of Nabisco Ritz crackers when there are less-expensive generic substitutes available.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares dropped over 4% in early premarket trading after the company late Tuesday 2009 would be the last year it would participate in the Macworld Expo and that CEO Steve Jobs would not give a keynote address in Apple's last appearance next month. This was immediately blown out of proportion, especially in the amount of reporting. Apple has been scaling back its participation in the Macworld Expos in the U.S. and around the world, so it didn't come as such a surprise. Also, immediately many suggested Jobs's absence may be related to his health. This speculation also appears to be unfounded or supported.
[Update: Oppenheimer downgraded AAPL to Perform from Outperform]
AAPL shares have been trading about 6.5% by midday.

General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and Chrysler were promist swift action from the White House. The action may be coming, but swift it isn't as the Bush administration faces competing pressures from lawmakers, including conservative Republicans who implored the White House not to use money from the $700 billion bailout TARP fund for the financial sector to aid carmakers. GM shares traded about 2% higher by midday, Ford's share were higher too.

Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) jumped 12.5% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the software maker reported quarterly results and an earnings target in line with its reduced forecast, but at its top end and above analyst expectations. ADBE shares switched direction and traded 2% lower by midday.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX at 54.57; 10-day moving average is 59.89

ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) closed at $14.48 Friday. CAG is scheduled to report Q2 EPS on December 17. CAG January option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Nike-(NYSE: NKE) closed at $49.37 Friday. NKE is expected to report Q2 on December 17. Thomas Weisel has a $74 price target on NKE. NKE January option implied volatility of 64 is above its 26-week average of 49 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is scheduled to report Q2 EPS on December 17. GIS January option implied volatility of 42 is above its 26-week average of 35 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Kraft (NYSE: KFT), whose supermarket competitors include Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), ConAgra (NYSE: CAG), and Kellogg (NYSE: K), reported results for Q3 on Wednesday, and although they weren't stunning, they were apparently good enough for investors, as the stock was higher after the release.>

Of course, today is a funny day, with the Fed decision on rates and all. Still, Kraft proves that it continues to chug along with its popular brands and pricing strategies.

The food company said that net organic revenue grew by 7%. Price increases helped out quite a bit. Unfortunately, management said that volume decreased. That's not great news, as it shows that consumers are reacting to the costs. Adjusted earnings per share, which exclude the significant effects of a gain from a divestiture, came in at $0.44.

According to Melly Alazraki's Before the Bell article, the bottom line only met expectations. Furthermore, the current adjusted earnings performance represented a 0% growth rate. Ouch, Kraft! And then we come to the guidance. It's sort of good, sort of neutral. Management raised its guidance for organic net revenue growth for the year by 1% to 7%, but the outlook for adjusted earnings per share remains the same at $1.88. I suppose this is really more neutral than good since it's the bottom line that most investors care about.

Ivanka Trump -- the Prada-wearing daughter of real estate mogul turned motivational speaker Donald Trump -- is moving downmarket. ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG) announced yesterday that it its Healthy Choice brand is "partnering with Ivanka Trump , successful New York businesswoman, to change the way people think about eating lunch at work."

Yesterday afternoon, thousands of office workers gathered outside midtown Manhattan's Grace building to meet Ivanka Trump and test out Healthy Choice's new Fresh Mixers line of prepared meals. According to the company, fresh mixers are currently available in Sweet & Sour Chicken, Sesame Teriyaki Chicken, Ziti & Meat Sauce, Rotini & Zesty Marinara Sauce, Southwestern Style Chicken and Szechwan Beef with Asian Style Noodles.

Unfortunately at $3.49 per piece, they're probably out of the league of many of the financial district's top executives, newly impoverished by the collapse of the financial markets.

"I'm excited to be partnering with Healthy Choice on the launch of Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers because I know how difficult it can be to try to find a healthy lunch during a hectic day," said Ivanka Trump . "Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers are convenient, fresh-tasting and easy to store in my desk drawer so I never have to skip lunch."

Why do I seriously doubt that Ms. Trump will actually eat these things at anything other than promotional events? (If you feel like reading Ivanka's blog about lunch, click here.)