LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
September 28 2020 - 6:02PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
United Natural Foods Beats 4Q Profit Expectations as Consumers
Cook at Home
United Natural Foods Inc. reported a stronger profit for its
latest quarter and beat analysts' expectation for sales, a
performance that reflects heightened consumer demand for food to
cook at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The wholesaler of food and other merchandise to grocers such as
Amazon.com Inc.'s Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Kroger Co.
locations on Monday said it earned a profit of $52.4 million, or 89
cents a share, for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Aug. 1, up
from $19.2 million, or 36 cents a share, for the same period last
year.
ALDI 2019 Profit Surged on Higher Revenue, Better Margins;
Deploys GBP1.3 Bln to Enhance UK Chain
ALDI Germany reported Monday a surge in pretax profit for 2019
on higher sales and better margins, and said it will invest 1.30
billion pounds ($1.66 billion) over the next two years to upgrade
its U.K. business.
The German grocer made a pretax profit of GBP271.5 million for
the year, a 49% increase over the previous year.
Revenue rose to GBP12.28 billion from GBP11.33 billion in
2018.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Aldi Is Less Disruptive But Retains Great Deal of
Competitiveness -- Market Talk
1004 GMT - German grocer Aldi is losing its ability to disrupt
the U.K. market but remains a strong force in the British grocer
scene, Shore Capital says. The domestic pricing environment is
competitive, and is likely to remain so as the U.K. stays in
economic recession, the investment group says. "That said, we look
at the broader industry model and see scope for earnings to advance
year-on-year, which alongside strong free cash flow generation,
augurs well for shareholders," Shore adds.
(matteo.castia@dowjones.com)
Here's Why McDonald's, Wendy's and Starbucks Stand Out in Fast
Food -- Barrons.com
September has been a rocky month for the stock market, and it
has also been choppy for fast-food restaurants, notes Stifel. Once
again, however, McDonald's stands out from the pack, thanks to menu
innovation, it says.
McDonald's stock (ticker: MCD) is up more than 11% in 2020,
easily outpacing the S&P 500 and many of its quick-service
peers. The restaurant's store traffic has been particularly strong
in September thanks to its limited-time Travis Scott meal deal,
which highlights the rapper's favorite order. Stifel's Chris O'Cull
thinks the collaboration may have allowed McDonald's to grab market
share.
FUTURES MARKETS
Livestock Futures Post Mixed Close -- Market Talk
15:26 ET - Livestock futures trading on the CME were a mixed bag
- with live cattle futures finishing up 0.2% to $1.1165 per pound
and lean hog futures finishing down 0.6% at 64.025 cents per pound.
The cattle on feed report issued by the USDA after the market's
close Friday showed that while there's still an onerous cattle
surplus due to Covid-19, it has been eaten into as the US economy
attempts to regain some normalcy. The inventory of cattle on feed
for over 150 days is up 20.5% from last year as of Sept. 1, but
that's an improvement from it being 42% back in July. Producers
have managed to work down the front end supply but work still
remains," says Steiner Consulting Group. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com;
@kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 28
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Sep 28 +$ 55.60 +$ 71.92
Sep 25 +$ 50.61 +$ 68.20
Sep 24 +$ 55.26 +$ 69.75
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
Beef-O-Meter
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
Beef
For Today Choice 102.4
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 108.7
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday fell $1.62 per hundred
pounds, to $217.72, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell
56 cents per hundred pounds, to $206.42. The total load count was
148. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.73, to $92.52 a hundred pounds,
based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 28, 2020 17:47 ET (21:47 GMT)
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