BloggingStocks

Tyson (TSN) employees' Muslim holiday furor much ado about nothing

Tom Barlow — 2008-08-05T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Rumors, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

The internet was buzzing last week after an article in the Shelbyville (that's right, I said Shelbyville), Tenn. Times-Gazette reported that Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) employees at the local poultry plant could take off the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, instead of Labor Day. As you might expect in year seven of our 'war' on terrorism, some readers went apoplectic at the thought of an American corporation granting a non-Christian holiday.

Now Tyson is in a full-court press to respond to the story, and I think the company deserves consideration. Its press release explains that the exchange affects only this plant, and was granted in response to a request from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Stores Union. Around 250 of its members are Somali immigrants, legally in the U.S. as political refugees, who work at the plant.

Perhaps the company would have been wiser to choose another day to swap for Eid Al-Fitr, but which? I suspect much the same (or greater) furor would have resulted if the 4th of July or Christmas or Memorial Day had been chosen instead. Labor Day honors American laborers, which include these immigrants. If they choose to work on the day set aside to honor them, too, what's the loss to us?

I think that too many people in our country are ready to condemn all Muslims; this makes as much sense as condemning all Christians for the actions of Jim Jones. Certainly, Tyson did nothing wrong by recognizing its employees' constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Me, I'm going to eat more chicken. Tyson chicken. And maybe some goat.

Thanks to Snopes.com.

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5 solar stocks that can triple, how do you rank as a taxpayer & all about housing home bill - Today in Money 7/28

Allan Halprin — 2008-07-28T11:13:00+00:00

Filed under: Google (GOOG), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Money and Finance Today, Verizon Communications (VZ), Hasbro Inc (HAS), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT), Unilever ADR (UL)

In the News:

· Gas Prices Slip Below $4/Gallon; Lowest Level in 2 Months

· Verizon Profit Up 12% While Profit a Little Short of Expectations

· Toyota Lowers 2008 Sales Target Worldwide

· Kraft Food Profits Rise 4%, Full-Year Outlook Raised

· Unilever Sells All, Snuggle, Wisk & Surf Laundry Detergents to Private Equity Firm

· 'Cuil' Debuts as Latest Google Rival

· Giant Private Equity Fund KKR to Go Public Via Fund Takeover

· Tyson Foods Earnings Plunge on Rising Feed Costs

5 Solar Stocks That Can Triple
The growth in the solar sector is still in the early innings of what should be a very long game. Investors who find the gems in this sector have the potential to be awarded with large gains. James Altucher spotlights five he likes. they include Hoku Scientific, LDK Solar, GT Soar, Daystar and Green Solar.
5 Solar Stocks That Can Triple - TheStreet.com

What Does the Housing Bill Mean for You?
The soon-to-be law offers relief to homeowners and new buyers. Naturally, there are strings attached. The new bill is full of goodies and not-so-goodies for homeowners and those who aspire to be homeowners. Here are some highlights.
What the housing bill means for you - Bankrate.com

Coming to a Store Near You: Even Higher Prices

Most inflation this year has come from food and fuel, as retailers resisted passing along to strapped consumers the higher prices manufacturers charged them, but coming increases from companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Hasbro Inc. may leave them with no choice.

Inflation's next front is retailers as costs rise - News Wires - CNBC.com

How Do You Rank as a Taxpayer?

You may not feel rich earning $35,000 a year, but you're in the top half of taxpayers. $65,000? You're in the top 25 percent. And $388,806 buys top bragging rights: Earn that much or more and you're among the top 1% of all American earners.

What's Your Share of the Nation's Tax Bill? - Kiplinger.com

Got Spam? Consider Moving to Montana

It's hard to explain why certain states are more vulnerable to spam mail than others. But as it turns out spam distribution isn't uniform, and according to the web security company Message Labs, certain states receive significantly more spam than others. Residents of Illinois, South Dakota, Oregon, New Hampshire and Wisconsin get the most spam on average while Montana residents get the least.

Got Spam? Consider Moving to Montana | MainStreet

Commuter Rewards

Leaving the car at home and commuting to work on the subway, bus or train can save some serious cash, but not just when it come to gas. Cities, local transit authorities and even credit-card issuers are offering cash and other rewards to commuters who dump the daily drive and ride with the straphangers.

Take Public Transit, Earn Cash and Other Rewards - SmartMoney.com

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Big company, small town: Tyson Foods, Springdale, Arkansas

Sarah Gilbert — 2008-06-26T17:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Industry, Employees, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Entrepreneurs

This post is part of our Big Company, Small Town series, featuring large companies and the small towns in which they are headquartered.

Like most big companies located in small towns, Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) has a delightfully quirky origin. John Tyson, owner of a battered truck and 500 chickens, opportunist, and debtor in the Depression-era 1930s struck an idea that probably seemed like folly to his neighbors: he'd deliver chickens to Chicago and Kansas City, where they'd get more money.

I'm sure for every story like Tyson's, there were 100 that didn't turn out so auspiciously. But in this tale, the hero comes back to his little Arkansas hometown with a profit and pays off his debts. He keeps on raising and selling birds in points north, eventually devising a plan to keep more of the profits by "vertically integrating" (I'll bet dollars-to-doughnuts he didn't call it that) and incubating his own chicks instead of buying them from a hatchery, as well as milling his own feed instead of buying it from a feed store.

This wasn't the end of Tyson's forethought. He bought a broiler farm in Springdale, Arkansas (beginning the company's history in that town) and started to cross-breed birds designed for meat production, instead of using heritage (or "pedigree") breeds.

While those committed to sustainable farming practices would later curse Tyson's innovations, his competitors were impressed and soon moved their slaughter operations to Arkansas to take advantage of the supply of cheap, quickly-growing birds. It was his son, Don Tyson, in 1950 who would convince Tyson to build a processing plant in Springdale, and in the 1960s the company moved into commercial egg production.

By the 1980s, Tyson had established international poultry partnership with Mexico and Japan and was processing beef and pork, as well, though it eventually focused back in on its core chicken products. Today 42.5 million chickens a week are processed by Tyson (along with 170,938 cows and 347,891 pigs).

Although Tyson Foods has had a spotty record in many of the small towns and cities where the company owns processing plants and farms, battling lawsuits and outcry for everything from racism to pollution, the history with Springdale, Arkansas, seems positively bucolic. Certainly, many thousands of the city's 60,000 residents are employed by the company, or work for contract farms in the area, and the town has been titled "The Chicken Capital of the World" and is colloquially called "Chickendale." Tyson management (including both Don and John) keep cozy with the Bible Belt locals by allowing prayer in the company cafeterias, encouraging faith through table-tents, and occasionally making fervent public statements of repentance. John even publicly acknowledged his battles with alcohol and drug addiction in 2005, though he didn't repent for his chickens' antibiotics habit.

Somehow, a company who has struggled mightily against the varied criticisms of commercial meat producers has kept its hometown relations civil, even jolly; an impressive achievement, indeed.

Be sure to check out more Big Company, Small Town posts.

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Before the bell: Futures higher following deal news; investors await Fed move

Melly Alazraki — 2008-04-28T07:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Earnings reports, Deals, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), Market matters, Wrigley, (Wm) Jr (WWY), Verizon Communications (VZ), Contl Airlines'B' (CAL), UAL Corp (UAUA), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Economic data, Federal Reserve

Stock futures got a boost this morning from a possible $22 billion deal as Buffett's Berkshire and Mars consider buying Wrigley. Also in on investors' mind is this week's Federal Reserve meeting and rate decision as well as oil nearing $120 a barrel again.

U.S. stocks finished mixed on Friday, with the Dow industrials rising 42 points, or 0.33%, and the S&P 500 up 9 points, or 0.65%. The Nasdaq composite, however, found itself in the red following a cautious outlook from Microsoft the day before, and finished the day down almost 6 points, or 0.25%.

Without much economic news today, investors will focus on the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee two-day meeting starting Tuesday. On Wednesday, Fed chairman Bernanke will announce the policy decided and most economist expect a quarter point rate cut, but also for the Fed to halt the cuts after that as inflationary pressures have been rising.

Also, attention will be on oil prices, which once again hit an all-time high of $119.93 a barrel Monday. A refinery strike closed a pipeline system that delivers a third of Britain's North Sea oil to refineries in the U.K. as well as supply outages in Nigeria have caused oil to climb again despite the strengthening dollar.

Another big new item this morning, and one that helped boost sentiment is that of Mars and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) nearing a deal to buy chewing gum giant Wm. Wrigley Jr. (NYSE: WWY) for more than $22 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Wrigley, which has a market capitalization value of roughly $13.6 billion, is seeing its shares climbing over 23% in premarket trading.

Still in deal news, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). The deadline the software giant gave the internet portal passed on Saturday. As there was no announcement from either side, this leaves Microsoft with two choices, walk away from the deal or engage in a large hostile takeover battle.

And one more item in deal news concerns Continental Airlines Inc. (NYSE: CAL), which said late Sunday it would not be part of any merger in the near future. Many who have speculated the airline could join forces with United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA) were surprised. Shares of CAL are down over 5% in premarket trading.

And it's earnings season with Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) reporting today.

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The Week in Preview: All eyes on the Fed

Andrew Horowitz — 2008-04-27T12:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Exxon Mobil (XOM), Viacom (VIA), Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Automatic Data Proc (ADP), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Consolidated Edison (ED), Chipotle Mexican Grill'A' (CMG), Nortel Networks (NT), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Garmin Ltd (GRMN)

Next week is sure to be filled with fun and volatile market conditions. The highlight will be the Fed decision on key rates, due on Wednesday, April 30, following a two-day meeting. Anytime the Fed has the floor, the markets listen. Tuesday and Wednesday will be filled with speculation up until the time of the announcement of a cut or pause.

There are many possible outcomes for this meeting, as we have seen a substantial change in investor sentiment regarding the potential need for further rate cuts. The buzz on the street is for a cut of 25 basis points and then a wait-and-see attitude from there. I think that is the most likely direction.

There has been a great deal of concern that all the recent rate cuts have not provided the benefit to consumers the economy needs. Clearly, there is a fatty clog within our financial circulatory system. Traditionally, the Fed likes to see how its actions trickle into the economy before it continues too far down one path, which would argue for a pause now. Plus, the Fed does not want to run out of ammunition by cutting rates too far too fast. But there is no question that we are dealing with a more aggressive Fed than we have seen in decades, so I think we will see another small rate cut.

After the Fed announcement, earnings will again take center stage. Watch out for surprises as investors have been bidding up stocks with a vengeance. Misses have been taken in stride as investors don't seem worried about large bank failures anymore. The truth is, the Fed has created a monster with its bailout policy and I'm worried stocks are getting overpriced here.

It is going to be a busy week for earnings as the season is in full swing. Here is a day-by-day look at the week ahead at some of the opportunities investors may want to consider.

Monday April 28

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) will be reporting. While this is not an exceptionally exciting report, it is one that will help to provide insight of just how bad the food crisis is and how the corn shortage is effecting profits. Last week we saw a considerable take-down for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) after it explained its outlook. First Call is expecting only $.01 EPS on $6.69 billion revenue as compared to EPS of $.19 for the same quarter last year.

Fair Issac Corp. (NYSE: FIC) has been in the hot seat as it is the company that created the FICO score. You know, the beloved company that provides lenders your credit rating/score. There has been quite a fallout over the ability of this company to properly gauge credit risk. The chart shows a recovery pattern filling toward the January gap-down. This is similar to what we have seen for many others that have rocketed on earnings lately.

If FIC manages to hit earnings, shares could get a nice pop. Shares are down 40% or so since November, and this report will show us how many lenders are looking to other companies to provide the data. Competitors taking over some of FIC's business may include the likes of Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX) and Experian Group Ltd. (LSE: EXPN). First Call is expecting $.43 per share on revenue of $204 million.

With that in mind, the credit card business is booming! Why you ask? People who are having trouble getting money these days are spending in a reckless manner with plastic. The winners here are Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) and Mastercard Inc. (NYSE: MA). Remember, neither of these companies has exposure to default as they are only processors of the transactions. There has been some talk about the negative effects that will be felt due to the Delta-Northwest merger as they will probably look to consolidate the card offering. What that really means to Visa is anyone's guess at this point.

On deck today are both Visa and Mastercard. The estimates are looking for an EPS of $1.99, up from a year ago of $1.57. Revenues are expected to come in at $1.06 billion. Visa is reporting its first earnings since it went public in March. There is a great deal of positive buzz on this name. Watch out as expectations are for a good number which could just as easily sink the stock if investors are disappointed. First Call estimates $.46 for the period.

Tuesday April 29

Food costs are out of control. Pizza inflation is the new buzzword and Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM) may continue to benefit from this new paradigm. It is expected to show a 50% increase in EPS to $.70 this quarter and revenues will rise to $12.45 billion. That is a lot of food product.

The theme continues on with Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA) reporting. As mentioned above, food costs are eating away at restaurant profits and there could be a big disappointment brewing for this name. Remember, the extraordinary wheat prices will hit right in their gut as margin (and margarine) compression will hurt their costs.

Wednesday April 30

All eyes will be on the Fed decision this day. Greg Ip, from The Wall Street Journal, regularly writes about the Fed outlook as well as many of the factors that go into the Fed's decision. On this subject I invited him to be a guest this week on The Disciplined Investor Podcast. This episode will be available Monday.

In other earnings, investors are looking towards the darling, now scorned, Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) for direction on its future earnings path. Estimates for an increase of $.11 over same quarter last year will need to be met for investors to once again look kindly on this name. Shares have been beaten down with ferocity since January and stand at about 1/3 their value since the November 2007 high.

Thursday, May 1

Automatic Data Processing (NYSE: ADP) will report and give us a good look at the employment situation from a corporate standpoint. The ADP report will provide a look back, but there may be some tidbits within the conference call that may give us a look ahead. Estimates are for $.75 per share and $2.4 billion of revenue.

Exxon Mobile Corp. (NYSE: XOM) also reports today. The last few earnings releases have been whoppers. There is no reason to think that the total revenue number won't be gigantic. The street is looking for $124.43 billion for the period. Did someone say windfall tax?

Friday May 2

A lighter earnings day by far. Con Ed, Nortel, Viacom, take your pick. Nothing too exciting. Stay at home in your PJs.

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Disclosure: Horowitz & Company clients may hold positions of some of the stocks mentioned as of the publish date.

Andrew Horowitz is a money manager and author of the bestseller The Disciplined Investor: Essential Strategies for Success. See The Disciplined Investor Blog.

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Market highlights for next week: Two-day FOMC meeting

Eric Buscemi — 2008-04-25T16:37:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Conventions and conferences, Annual meetings, Starbucks (SBUX), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Verizon Communications (VZ), BP p.l.c. ADS (BP), Merck and Co (MRK), U.S. Steel (X), Genentech Inc (DNA), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Akamai Technologies (AKAM), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT)

Monday, April 28

PDUFA date for Genentech, Inc. (NYSE: DNA) and Roche Holding Ltd. (OTC: RHHBY)'s supplemental Biologics License Application for Herceptin for label expansion to include AC followed by docetaxel in treatment of adjuvant HER2+ breast cancer.
PDUFA date for Shire plc (NASDAQ: SHPGY) and New River Pharma's supplemental New Drug Application for Vyvanse (NRP-104) treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disordre, or ADHD, in adult patients 18-55 years old; the drug is already approved for pediatric ADHD ages 6-12.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) to report Q earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 9:00am.

Tuesday, April 29

Two-day FOMC meeting beginning at 8:30am.
PDUFA date for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK)'s New Drug Application for Cordaptive (MK-0524A) adjunctive therapy to diet for treating elevated LDL Cholesterol, low HDL Cholesterol and elevated triglycerides levels.
PDUFA date for Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCMP)'s supplemental New Drug Application for dose of 8mg treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation; already approved for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation at 24ug dosage.
BP plc (NYSE: BP) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 10:15am.
United States Steel Company (NYSE: X) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 2:00pm.

Wednesday, April 30

Second day of two-day FOMC meeting.
Kraft Foods, Inc. (NYSE: KFT) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:00am.
Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 4:30pm.
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) to report Q2 earnings; conference call at 5:00pm.

Thursday, May 1

PDUFA date for Discovery Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: DSCO). On Nov 16, 2007, FDA established May 1, 2008 as its target date to complete its review of Surfaxin New Drug Application for prevention of Respiratory Distress Syndrome in premature infants.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 8:30am.
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) to report Q1 earnings; conference call at 11:00am.

Friday, May 2

SEC Advisory Committee to meet at 9:00am on Improvements to Financial Reporting.
PDUFA Date for The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) New Drug Application, NDA for Cleviprex for treatment of Hypertension.
PDUFA Date for Akorn, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKRX) for Akten Ophthalmic Gel, an ocular anesthesia.

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Analyst upgrades: Goldman Sachs, Alexza Pharma, SAP

Eric Buscemi — 2008-03-18T11:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Bear Stearns Cos (BSC)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Goldman Sachs, Alexza Pharma and SAP AG were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Wachovia upgraded Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to Outperform from Market Perform, as they believe Goldman has a superior capital position relative to competitors and will likely benefit more than any firm from Bear Stearns' (NYSE: BSC) collapse. They have a $180-$185 target range for the stock.
Following Alexza Pharma's (NASDAQ: ALXA) Q4 report, JMP Securities said they have reduced concerns regarding Loxapine timelines and risks. The firm raised Alexza to Outperform from Market Perform.
SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Bernstein on valuation and a positive view on fundamentals.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight at Stephens.
Citigroup upgraded Teekay Shipping (NYSE: TK) and General Maritime (GMR) to Buy from Hold.
RiskMetrics (NYSE: RMG) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Banc of America.

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Analyst upgrades: FLR, FWRD and MDR

Eric Buscemi — 2008-03-06T11:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Oracle Corp (ORCL), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Fluor, Forward Air and McDermott were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Citigroup upgraded shares of Fluor (NYSE: FLR) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's strong performance and backlog in Q4 and raised their target to $190.50 from $158.
Baird upgraded Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) to Outperform from Neutral citing near-term growth initiatives that are gaining traction.
Citigroup also upgraded shares of McDermott (NYSE: MDR) to Buy from Hold to reflect the company's strong Q4 performance and rising commodity prices.

OTHER UPGRADES:

RBC Capital upgraded Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) and ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) to Top Pick from Outperform.
Credit Suisse raised China Unicom (NYSE: CHU) to Outperform from Neutral.
Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) were upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch.

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Earnings highlights: McDonald's, Kraft, P&G, Verizon, MasterCard, 3M and others

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-02-03T09:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), McDonald's (MCD), 3M Corporation (MMM), American Express (AXP), Black and Decker (BDK), Hershey Co (HSY), MasterCard Inc'A' (MA), Procter and Gamble (PG), Verizon Communications (VZ), Eastman Kodak (EK), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Kraft Foods'A' (KFT), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

The earnings crunch is in full swing, and here are a few of the highlights of this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) reported a slip in profits and warned of slow growth in 2008.
Alberto-Culver (NYSE: ACV) returned to profitability after a spin-off and restructuring.
Avnet Inc. (NYSE: AVT) beat expectations and offered a revised forecast.
Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE: BDK) beat expectations but lowered its outlook due to the housing slump.
Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) fell short of earnings estimates, sending shares lower.
Hershey Co. (NYSE: HSY) responded to disappointing results by announcing price increases.
Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) fourth-quarter profit fell on higher costs for raw materials.
Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTC: LNVGY) nearly tripled quarterly earnings on strong demand for PCs in Asia.
MasterCard Inc. (NYSE: MA) beat expectations, even after excluding a one-time investment gain.
McCormick & Co. (NYSE: MKC) posted solid results on strength in international markets.
McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) beat expectations, but reported flat same-store sales in December.
Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) reported strong second-quarter results on strength in emerging markets.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK) reported a profit but missed revenue expectations.
Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE: SHW) missed estimates and lowered expectations for the next quarter.
3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) beat expectations despite a decline in profits.
Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) profits fell and it announced a plan to raise prices.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) met earnings estimates but fell short of revenue expectations.

For additional BloggingStocks earnings highlights, see Yahoo!, Google, Amazon, Countrywide, Merck, UBS and others and Exxon, Boeing, Halliburton, Sony, UPS, Honda and others.

Also, in the wake of earnings reports from Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) made a move for Yahoo! Rumor has Google going after AOL in response. Meanwhile, Timothy Sykes has some advice for buying stocks ahead of earnings reports.

Upcoming results to watch for include Archer Daniels Midland (NYSE: ADM), Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Time Warner (NYSE: TWX), and PepsiCo. (NYSE: PEP).

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Monday earnings recap: Verizon, SanDisk, Tyson

Trey Thoelcke — 2008-01-28T18:46:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Verizon Communications (VZ), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), SanDisk Corp (SNDK)

Among the companies reporting on Monday were Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ: SNDK), and Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN).

Verizon reported fourth-quarter earnings that were in line with expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The company earned $1.07 billion, or 37 cents per share, in the period ending in December, compared to $1.03 billion, or 35 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding charges for severance costs related to layoffs and a loss on the sale of Verizon's operations in the Dominican Republic, the latest earnings were 62 cents per share.

Revenue for the fourth quarter was $23.8 billion, up 5.5% from $22.6 billion a year ago. The average analyst forecast had been $23.96 billion. For all of 2007, Verizon earned $5.5 billion, or $1.90 a share, on $93.5 billion in revenue, compared to a profit of $6.2 billion, or $2.12 a share, on $88.2 billion in revenue the year before.

Shares were up almost 1% on Monday, to close at $38.11. Shares were at 52-week low of $35.40 last week.

SanDisk announced that it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter. Net income was $106 million, or 45 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $35 million, or 17 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2006, which included a write-off of acquired in-process technology. Fourth-quarter revenue came to $1.25 billion, up 7% on a year-over-year basis.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had expected earnings of 64 cents per share, or $1.67 for the year.

Net income for fiscal 2007 was $218 million, or 93 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of $199 million, or 96 cents per diluted in fiscal 2006. Total revenue for fiscal 2007 of $3.89 billion increased 20% from $3.26 billion in 2006.

Shares rose a bit more than 1% to close Monday at $25.89. Shares were at 52-week low of $24.29 last week.

Tyson reported that its first-quarter profit fell 40%, and it lowered its earnings guidance on a plan to increase prices to offset rising costs of feed for cattle, chickens, and pigs. The company earned $34 million, or 10 cents a share, in the period ending December 29, down from $57 million, or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had forecast earnings of 4 cents per share. The quarter included an $18 million one-time gain and a $6 million charge. Tyson had revenue of $6.8 billion for the quarter, up from $6.6 billion a year ago.

Shares were up 5.5% Monday, to close at $13.99. Shares were at 52-week low of $12.81 last week.

Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.

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Proxy firm questions Tyson chief's pay

Zac Bissonnette — 2008-01-15T17:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Management, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

Proxy Governance Inc. has recommended that shareholders withhold their support for the board of directors at Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN), in light of excessive executive compensation in the face of operational underperformance.

Tyson has underperformed its peer group over the past few years, and Proxy argues that the company's management has not done enough to respond to industry challenges including increased feed costs and export restrictions on beef.

In 2007, Tyson stock declined in value while Richard Bond was paid $24.6 million. Tyson says that "it's apparent they haven't done all their homework." But I think that a CEO getting paid $24.6 million while presiding over the destruction of shareholder value is indicative of a compensation committee that hasn't done its homework: Proxy estimated that Tyson chief executives have been paid 82% more than CEOs at other companies in the peer group.

Executive pay is, as a whole, so out of touch with reality that any company that is overpaying so egregiously that it gets the attention of a proxy advisory firm really doesn't have a leg to stand on. Hopefully Tyson shareholder will send a message to the board.

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Smithfield Foods (SFD): Share price moving in bullish flag

Larry Schutts — 2007-12-10T16:17:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Hormel Foods (HRL), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Smithfield Foods (SFD), Technical Analysis, Stocks to Buy

Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) is the largest hog producer and pork processor in the world, offering fresh pork, smoked and boiled ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs and ready-to-eat foods. Products are sold under such brand names as Smithfield, John Morrell, Cumberland Gap, Patrick Cudahy, Cook's Ham and Armour-Eckrich Meats. Smithfield is also the fifth-largest beef processor in the United States. Hormel Foods (NYSE: HRL) and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) are major competitors.

The company surprised the Street late last month when it reported fiscal Q2 EPS of 24 cents and revenues of $3.46 billion. Analysts had been looking for 21 cents and $3.28 billion. Management noted that packaged meat profit margins more than doubled and earnings from international meat processing rose sharply. The SFD price popped on the news and then moved into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Stocks frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling on entry. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the shares with four "strong buys," four "buys," five "holds" and one "sell." Analysts see a 53 percent growth rate through the next year. The SFD P/E ratio (19.73), Price to Sales ratio (0.31), Price to Book ratio (1.37), Price to Cash Flow ratio (9.23) and Sales Growth rate (23.54%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutional investors hold about 75 percent of the outstanding shares. The stock is one of those used to calculate the S&P 400 MidCap Index. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between $24.40 and $35.79. A stop-loss of $26.25 looks good here.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

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USDA reverses course, Tyson must junk 'raised without antibiotics' labels

Brian White — 2007-11-20T09:35:00+00:00

Filed under: Bad news, Products and services, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) will be grumbling a bit this week after spending the summer revising labels for its poultry products. Previously, the USDA said the chicken giant could label its chicken products "raised without antibiotics." Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that decision was in error.

So, instead of enlightening Tyson customers with a more natural marketing message for its fresh chicken products, the campaign introduced this summer will now be canceled and the labels will be pulled off those products.

According to the USDA, a food additive called ionophores is indeed fed to Tyson's chickens before they are processed. The USDA has classified ionophores as antibiotics before and said it would not change its policy, much to the chagrin of Tyson marketing executives.

However, Tyson executives say that ionophores are not antibiotics and that the FDA does not consider them to be antibiotics either. Who will win out here? If it's the USDA, then Tyson just wasted quite a bit of marketing money to tell customers something that wasn't true. Well, according to the USDA at least.

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Analyst upgrades: TSN, UN, BRKS, AKZOY and YHOO

Eric Buscemi — 2007-11-13T11:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Yahoo! (YHOO), Alcatel-LucentADS (ALU), Yamana Gold (AUY), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), POSCO (PKX)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Tyson Foods, Unilever, Brooks Automation, Akzo Nobel and Yahoo! were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to Buy from Hold on valuation and the potential for protein complex improvement.
Goldman upgraded shares of Unilever (NYSE: UN) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the company's diversified product range and growing exposure to developing and emerging markets.
Bear Stearns raised its rating on Brooks Automation (NASDAQ: BRKS) to Outperform from Peer Perform. The firm cited the company's compelling valuation and growth drivers.
Akzo Nobel (OTC: AKZOY) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at SNS Securities, as they see absolute total return greater than 20%.
CIBC upgraded Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer on valuation following the recent pullback and their analysis of Yahoo's non-operating assets. They believe Yahoo's stake in Alibaba Group is now worth about $4/share and raised their target to $31 from $28.

OTHER UPGRADES:

First Analysis upgraded Spss Inc (NASDAQ: SPSS) to Overweight from Equal Weight.
UBS upgraded Yamana Gold (NYSE: AUY) to Buy from Neutral.
WestLB upgraded Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) to Hold from Reduce.
HSBC upgraded Posco (NYSE: PKX) to Overweight from Neutral.

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Market highlights for next week: Tyson (TSN), Wal-Mart (WMT) and Home Depot (HD) to report

Eric Buscemi — 2007-11-09T15:40:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Forecasts, Law, Conventions and conferences, Annual meetings, Wal-Mart (WMT), Home Depot (HD), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Charles Schwab Corp (SCHW), Watson Pharmaceuticals (WPI), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Economic data

Monday, November 12

Veterans' Day holiday.
Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) to report Q4 earnings. They are holding a conference call at 9am and a business update later at 10:45am.

Tuesday, November 13

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT) to report Q3 earnings; pre-recorded conference call at 7am.
Home Depot (NYSE: HD) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 9am.
Fed Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner is the Keynote Speaker at Standard & Poor's Banking Conference in New York at 1pm.

Wednesday, November 14

Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is the Keynote Speaker at Cato Institute Annual Monetary Conference at 9:10am.
Macy's (NYSE: M) to report Q3 earnings; conference call at 10:30am.

Thursday, November 15

Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) to hold business update conference call at 10:30am.
Nevada District Court: Bayer (NYSE: BAY) vs. Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) on Patent Infringement Lawsuit over the generic birth control drug YAZ.

Friday, November 16

PDUFA date for Bristol Myers Squibb Company's (NYSE: BMY) Abilify.
PDUFA date for Impax Laboratories' (OTC: IPXL) Vadova.

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Analyst upgrades: TOT, HLTH, AFL, FSLR and CLUB

Eric Buscemi — 2007-11-08T10:25:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, AFLAC Inc (AFL), Nortel Networks (NT), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Total SA, HLTH Corp, Aflac First Solar and Town Sports were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Citigroup upgraded Total SA (NYSE: TOT) to Buy from Hold following the company's Q3 results. JP Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral, as they believe the company's Q3 results underlined the strength of exploration and production growth prospects versus peers.
Friedman Billings raised its rating on HLTH Corporation (NASDAQ: HLTH) to Outperform from Market Perform following the company's proposal to merge into WebMD Health Corp (NASDAQ: WBMD) for a combination of cash and stock.
The firm also added shares of Aflac (NYSE: AFL) to its Top Picks List, as they believe Aflac is the only high quality, defensive growth story in the Life Insurance sector.
CIBC upgraded shares of First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) to Sector Outperformer from Sector Performer following the Q3 upside and set a $230 target on the stock.
Banc of America upgraded shares of Town Sports (NASDAQ: CLUB) to Neutral from Sell on valuation as they believe the downside risk is now priced into the stock.

OTHER UPGRADES:

Credit Suisse upgraded Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT) to Neutral from Underperform.
Merrill upgraded Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) to Buy from Neutral.
Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was raised to Market Perform from Underperform at Wachovia.

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WESCO International (WCC): Electrical and industrial products for big business

Larry Schutts — 2007-10-04T14:24:00+00:00

Filed under: Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, ConAgra Foods (CAG), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Technical Analysis, Goodyear Tire and Rubber (GT), Stocks to Buy

When they are in the market for electrical and industrial construction products and MRO supplies, many of the biggest firms around go to an outfit that represents some 29,000 suppliers and offers more than a million products. It serves about 110,000 customers worldwide.

WESCO International (NYSE: WCC) is a leading distributor of electrical construction products and electrical/industrial maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies. The firm operates seven automated distribution centers and approximately 400 full-service branches around the world. Clients include ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT) and Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN).

The company pleased investors last week, when it announced that it had completed a $400 million stock repurchase program and had authorized a new program for the same amount. CIBC World Markets and Bank of America Securities subsequently initiated coverage of the stock with "buy" ratings. The stock popped on the news and has since moved into a bullish "flag" consolidation pattern. Prices frequently exit flags moving in the same direction they were traveling when they entered them. In this case, that would be to the upside.

Brokers recommend the stock with four "strong buys," seven "buys" and three "holds." Analysts see a 15% growth rate, through the next year. The WCC P/E ratio (10.42), PEG ratio (0.77), Price to Sales ratio (0.36), Price to Book ratio (3.68), Price to Cash Flow ratio (7.78), Price to Free Cash Flow ratio (7.79), Return on Investment (17.23%) and Return on Equity (37.94%) compare favorably with industry, sector and S&P 500 averages. Institutions hold about 95% of the outstanding shares. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $37.65 and $71.10. A stop-loss of $38.90 looks good here. Note that the firm is expected to announce Q3 results on October 18, before the open.

Larry Schutts is a contributing editor for Theflyonthewall.com and the Vice-President of Stockwinners.com.

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Pilgrim's Pride Corp. (PPC): Chicken is good for you

Hilary Kramer — 2007-08-28T08:30:00+00:00

Filed under: Hilary On Stocks, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Stocks to Buy

With its recent acquisition of GoldKist, Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (NYSE: PPC) is now the largest chicken company in the United States. This acquisition was part of a larger consolidation of the chicken industry, a development that has given large companies like PPC and its rival Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) a great deal of pricing power, especially with the industry-wide production cuts that have limited supply and helped sustain higher prices.

This pricing power has been especially important with the rising price of corn, which has increased feed costs to a substantial degree. Fortunately for PPC, it's been able to offset these costs with higher prices, and its most recent quarterly report announced net income of $62 million, compared with a $20 million loss in the same quarter of 2006. For the nine months of fiscal year 2007, PPC's revenues are up nearly 65%.

It's no surprise, then, that PPC's stock price has benefited, and it is now trading near its 52-week high. It's not clear whether its margins will be sustainable, given the potential for corn prices to keep rising and the cyclical nature of poultry prices. But a recent report from Bank of Montreal's food analyst argued that corn prices have been self-correcting (they were down 25% over the summer), and it also pointed to the rise of Blue Ear disease in China, which could mean a rise in demand for protein-rich food like chicken; meanwhile the consolidation and production cuts should stabilize price volatility for the foreseeable future. At the right price, this one could well be a nice meal for your portfolio.

Type of Stock: The largest chicken company in America, with a newfound return to profitability.

Price Target: The Bank of Montreal report predicted a 12-month price target of $47. With the stock near $40, that
would be a nice gain of more than 10%. But this stock tends to go up and down a bit, and you might be able to make your purchase closer to $35.

Hilary Kramer is a financial editor and money coach for AOL and an authority on investing. Visit her at www.hilarykramer.com.

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Analyst upgrades 8-23-07: CFC, TOL, TSN and UPS

Kevin Shult — 2007-08-23T10:24:00+00:00

Filed under: Before the bell, Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Good news, Countrywide Financial (CFC), United Parcel'B' (UPS), Toll Brothers (TOL), Tyson Foods'A' (TSN), Stocks to Buy

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Countrywide Financial (CFC), Toll Brothers (TOL), United Parcel Service (UPS) and OSI Pharma (OSIP) were today's noteworthy upgrades:

Both Friedman Billings and Wachovia upgraded Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) to Market Perform from Underperform following the $2 billion investment by the Bank of America (BAC).

JMP Securities upgraded Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) to Market Perform from Underperform and believes the worst news on housing is reflected and that fears over a disappearing jumbo loan market are overblown.

Matrix upgraded United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) to Buy from Hold to reflect strong demand from overseas shipping.

Wachovia raised OSI Pharma (NASDAQ: OSIP) to Market Perform from Underperform on valuation...

OTHER UPGRADES:

UBS raised Joy Global (NASDAQ: JOYG) to Buy from Neutral.

China Netcom (NYSE: CN) was raised to Neutral from Sell at UBS.

Roth Capital upgraded IMAX Corp (NASDAQ: IMAX) to Buy from Hold.

WedBush raised InfoSpace (NASDAQ: INSP) to Buy from Hold.

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) was upgraded to Hold from Sell.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

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Tyson Foods, so strong they could knock out Mike Tyson

Jon Ogg — 2007-07-30T12:43:00+00:00

Filed under: Earnings reports, Products and services, Marketing and advertising, Tyson Foods'A' (TSN)

Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE:TSN) shares are up after the chicken, beef, and pork processor reported better-than-expected second-quarter results. The company posted $0.31 EPS, well above the $0.25 First Call estimate and well above a loss posted in Q2 2006. Revenues rose almost $600 million to $6.96 billion, also above the $6.74 billion estimate.

To top it off, the company also raised annual EPS guidance from $0.65 to $0.90 to $0.82 to $0.92. It appears the cost cutting and containment measures are working. The company has closed some processing plants, installed spending caps, and you haven't even heard press on major labor violations in a long time. The company's operating income improved in all operations including its prepared foods unit.

The company is also in the midst of a 'quasi-healthier' launch with its "Raised Without Antibiotics and Any'tizers(tm)" and is also in a renewable fuels venture based on leftover animal fat products that would otherwise end up in landfills.

The other good news here is that it has all the distribution channels in place, and it still has major brand recognition. The reason this is important is that the company noted a higher feedcost being offset by it raising its own sales prices.

Tyson has greatly improved its position from its woes a few years ago. Shares are up 50% from yearly lows and closer to recent highs. At $21.60, that's much closer to the $24.32 high over the last 52-weeks. This one sounds good enough, I think I'm having some chicken for lunch.

Jon Ogg is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

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