Could this be right, I thought to myself? I mean, come on, the analysts were that wrong about Del Monte?

I had to check another source to see if the earnings beat was truly so impressive. Apparently, it was. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) also reported the expectation of 4 cents. The Journal also mentioned a few more positive points to the Del Monte story: gross margin expanded quite a bit, management is more optimistic about the future and increased its guidance, and the company recently upped its dividend. And if you go back to the press release and take a look at the projections for cash flow for the entire fiscal year, you'll note that there should be way more green stuff than necessary to cover the dividend (that's good to hear, since operational cash flow during Q1 was less than the amount used for capital expenditures). All of these elements jumped out at me, and made the buying interest seen today even more comprehensible.

Del Monte is not far from a 52-week high. This could be an indicator of technical strength to come. I'd say you should look at the stock on a pullback. This company could be a good idea if the markets do hit choppy trading waters. This is the expectation for the fall, given the strength we've witnessed in the indexes during the summer. We'll see if that happens or not.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.