If, as outlined in December, you took advantage of Tyson Foods' (TSN) dip to about $14.40, you made the correct move. First discussed here on May 11, 2009, at a price of $12.35, Tyson has moved north this winter, but with volatility, to about $19, and I still like the shares here.

In 2011, Tyson's revenue should increase about 3-4%, as food demand rises in-sync with the U.S. and global economic expansions. Chicken and beef margins should widen. Modest pricing power also will continue.

Continue reading Tyson Foods Roller-Coasters North

Tyson Foods Roller-Coasters North originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tyson Foods (TSN) is on the front line of food inflation. While the Federal Reserve holds that inflation is just 2%, Donnie Smith, CEO of Tyson said that "domestic food inflation will likely overtake U.S. government forecasts as crop and animal feed prices continue to rise," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Last week, Tyson reported a profit of $298 million for the quarter to Jan. 1, compared with $160 million a year ago. Per share earnings rose to 78 cents from 42 cents. Revenue was up 15% to $7.6 billion.

Continue reading Tyson Foods Earnings Higher on Price Hikes

Tyson Foods Earnings Higher on Price Hikes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Food producer Tyson Foods (TSN), first discussed here on May 11, 2009, at a price of $12.35, finally appears to have found some traction, and I obviously still like the shares at this stage.

The shares of Tyson downtrended in bear-hug fashion for much of 2010, walking down to about $15 from $20. However, since then the shares found support at $15 and have since popped back up above $17, including a nice move above the key, 50-day moving average.

Continue reading Tyson Foods: Is a Bottom in Place at $15?

Tyson Foods: Is a Bottom in Place at $15? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There seem to be some ruffled feathers in the world of poultry. Shares of Tyson Foods (TSN) lost a hefty 2.75% Monday.

The Chinese government has decided that American chicken is being sold too cheaply in China. To prevent American poultry producers from further chicken "dumping," the commerce ministry is imposing new tariffs -- in some cases exceeding 100% -- on the imported birds for a period of five years. A lower tariff was already introduced earlier this year.

Continue reading Playing Chicken with China

Playing Chicken with China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Tyson Foods Drops on Q2 Data

Tyson Foods Drops on Q2 Data originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 May 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN) really improved its fortunes in Q3. Last year at this time, Tyson earned 3 cents per share. This year, the food company, famous for its chicken brand, made 35 cents per share. Sales actually dipped a little under 3%, but management is diligently fighting the good fight when it comes to efficiencies. Both costs of sales and selling, general and administrative expenses went down.

According to Bloomberg, the adjusted income of 33 cents per share simply blazed past Wall Street's expectations. The call was for 22 cents per share. You've got to like that. Higher prices for poultry helped the quarter.

Continue reading Tyson Foods beats analyst expectations by wide margin

Tyson Foods beats analyst expectations by wide margin originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading KFC opening up to 300 new British outlets

KFC opening up to 300 new British outlets originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Lean Cuisine 'Tuscan' and 'Mediterranean' chicken meals recalled originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) reported, according to this source, a decent quarter in terms of bottom-line profit, but it wasn't enough to satisfy Wall Street. Sales rose almost 10% to $7.2 billion. And net income on an adjusted basis came in at $0.15 per share. That represented pretty good growth over last year's profit figure. But you know, it didn't really matter for two reasons. One, the call by the analyst community was for four more pennies. Two, guidance was not tasty at all. Management sees further pressures coming, and the aforementioned source mentions that the fulfillment of debt obligations is an issue.

A tough environment for chicken has been plaguing Tyson. Not only that, but a look at the company's press release shows that operational cash flow took a huge dive over the last twelve months, dropping roughly 58% to $288 million. There was no free cash for the year to support the dividend obligations. That isn't too encouraging.

The bottom line on Tyson, which competes with the also-struggling Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC), is that it isn't a buy, at least not from where I sit. I know there will be investors out there who will see some value in the situation, but I cannot, at least not at this time. No, I'm not saying that I think Tyson will disappear. However, there are better ideas out there if you're looking to play the supermarket game over a long-term basis. There's Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Kraft (NYSE: KFT), and Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), to name some examples. As I write this, Tyson's stock is down over 11%. Might we see a bounce in the next few days? Sure. But I'm not brave enough to step in with this one.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change at any time.

Too chicken to buy Tyson originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Pilgrim's Pride's home roots in the small town of Pittsburg, Texas, perhaps explain why it is the largest chicken producer in the U.S., even ahead of competitor Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE: TSN) in Arkansas. In 1946, Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim dressed like a standard Pilgrim and tucked a small chicken under his arm when completing orders for customers. He gave away free chicks when he sold chicken feed as a way to expand his market for chicken feed. As of today, Pilgrim's Pride operates chicken processing plants in 13 states and Mexico and processes 44 million chickens per week, resulting in 9 billion pounds of chickens per year and over 528 million chicken eggs per year.

Pilgrim's Pride's operations are almost exclusively located in the U.S. close to its farms, and it has become the second-largest chicken supplier to Mexico as well. It does have processing plants in Mexico and Puerto Rico. Along with such huge chicken-producing numbers come a few problems, as a huge product recall in 2002 due to Lysteria contamination killed seven people and made over 40 customers sick. In 2004, more than 24,000 hens were destroyed after a strain of avian flu was found in Hopkins County, Texas.

Pilgrim's Pride is still based in the same location where it was founded over 60 years ago, but today stands as a completely vertically-integrated company: it owns every process and facility from egg to table, as it says. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), Publix Super Markets (OTC: PUSH) and KFC, a division of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) ,can be counted as some of Pilgrim's Pride's largest customers.

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

Big company, small town: Pilgrim's Pride, Pittsburg, Texas originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

Ahhhh... Kentucky Fried Chicken from the Colonel. Then it became KFC. Now it's Kentucky Fried Chicken again. Any way you slice it, they have some awfully good chicken and the most delicious gravy ever. Please don't tell me how many calories I'm eating or whether I'm next on the heart attack list thanks to all the fat.

Kentucky Fried Chicken is one of multiple restaurants under the Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) umbrella, which also includes Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Long John Silver's. The menu has changed a bit over the years, but the mainstay of KFC will always be the chicken dinners. You can currently get your chicken in original or extra crispy. Or you can choose the more modern chicken strips or popcorn chicken.

Popeye's Chicken, owned by AFC Enterprises (NASDAQ: AFCE), refers to itself as "New Orleans Chicken." With over 1,900 stores open at the end of 2007, Popeye's provides a little more variety in addition to the standard chicken meals. Of particular interest are the "Louisiana Legends," which include Creole, Jambalaya, Etoufee, and Smothered Chicken.

For a true chicken experience, I think KFC is the way to go. But if you prefer to spice it up and get a little New Orleans style food with your chicken, Popeye's is your brand of choice!

Vote in our poll for KFC or Popeye's as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.

Battle of the Brands: Kentucky Fried Chicken vs. Popeye's Chicken originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 May 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum Brands

Will people go to KFC for nonfried chicken? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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.

Tyson Foods, so strong they could knock out Mike Tyson originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cage-free eggs: What are you paying for, and are they better?

Cage-free eggs: What are you paying for, and are they better? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 May 2007 22:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum, YUM: Rats don't scare stock, up 6% after Q1 earnings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 May 2007 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE:YUM) KFC is having some fun at rival Wendy's International Inc.'s (NYSE:WEN) expense.

KFC's will be giving away samples of the Colonel's Crispy Strips on January 29 to celebrate the fact that Wendy's has removed Homestyle Chicken Strips from its menu, according to a press release from the Louisville-based company. This bit of corporate benevolance will be touted in an advertisement in USA Today. I'm sure the folks at Wendy's are hanging their heads in shame.

As McDonald's Corp.'s (NYSE:MCD) recent blowout quarter underscores, chicken is big business for the fast-food companies. Notice how Yum Brands is taking a shot at Wendy's and not the home of the golden arches.

Still, my advice to investors and consumers who are in need of fast-food chicken is to head over to their local Chick-fil-a. Not only is the chicken good, but so are the Waffle fries. The company, which claims it was first with the "nugget concept,: operates 1,280 restaurants in 37 states and Washington. D.C. Last year, its sales were $2 billion, up from $1 billion in 2000.

Sorry Yum! Brands, Chick fil-a rules the roost originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some of you laughed when Sheldon Liber pointed to sales of art and crafts in Venice Beach, Calif., as a leading economic indicator -- and some of you (like me) thought it prescient. I couldn't help agreeing, as I'm dialed into the crafts scene here in Portland, Ore., and have watched a startling decline in artsy-fartsy sales since last fall.

Reading today's MarketBeat from The Wall Street Journal [subscription required], then, I found the latest kooky indicator: Bobby. More to the point, the sales of Bobby's grilled chickens. He owns and operates a lunch grill somewhere in the Great Lakes, and his business has fallen sharply, despite lowering his price-per-lunch plate from $7 to $6.25. Notably missing amongst his regulars: the blue-collar workers.

Blogger Jeff Matthews discovered Bobby, and he believes Bobby's chicken sales are an indicator. He writes, "Being in the Midwest, and being a half-dozen hours north of Detroit, what we have here is the real-life impact of those GM and Ford oops-we-make-gas-guzzlers-and gas-is-$3.00-a-gallon headlines, multiplied across dozens of factories and thousands of lives dependent on those companies and their gas guzzlers for work." Matthews believes we'll see the impact in GM, Ford, Toll Brothers, Centex Homes, Lowes, Home Depot.

I'm fascinated to see if these theories end up being correct. Could a slowdown be in the works for the fall?

Economic indicators coming from more unlikely places originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Aug 2006 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.