Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB) is headed into the comforting warmth of the earnings confessional on Monday morning, when the venerable foods company will announce second-quarter results. Analysts are predicting revenue of $2.21 billion on earnings of 64 cents per share, a nickel-per-share less than the year-ago profit.
In its first quarter, Campbell saw overall profit drop 3.7% amid high costs for materials. This strain, analysts say, may be slowly subsiding, which could be a bit of good news for Campbell and other food producers.
As for consumer trends, people are watching their wallets and prefering to dine in for weekday lunches and dinners. This combined with Campbell's public trend toward healthier options (recent soup commericals tout the use of all-natural ingredients and the exclusion of MSG) could drive budget and health-concious shoppers toward Campbell brands.
After a dropoff throughout November and into early December, the stock has remained rather range-bound around the 30 level. Will earnings be "M'm! M'm! Good" enough to drive the shares from this sideways trend? Tune in Monday.
Beth Gaston Moon works for WeSeed.com. The above comments are not intended as trading or investment advice.
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