Investors had little appetite for the stock of Dean Foods Co (NYSE:DF) after the foods producer cut full-year earnings guidance.
Analysts who follow the stock had expected earnings per share (EPS) for 2018 to be around 66 cents; Dean Foods said the number would fall between 32 and 52 cents.
The downgrade came despite a decent set of second-quarter numbers, with EPS of 16 cents in line with market expectations. Revenue of US$1.95bn topped analysts’ expectations of US$1.91bn.
“We're achieving our objectives in many areas; however, the timing of our network optimization plans has shifted and we now expect to see benefits beginning in the fourth quarter. We're experiencing significantly higher than expected non-dairy inflation along with continued retailer investment in private label which is impacting our branded product mix. Therefore, we now anticipate full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.32 to $0.52,” said Ralph Scozzafava, the chief executive of Dean Foods.
The shares were down 11.7% in screen-based trading.
In contrast, cloud-software company Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO) was sky-high after an earnings beat.
Underlying EPS of three cents confounded analysts, who had expected a loss per share of five cents, although to be fair, the company itself had guided towards a loss per share of five or six cents.
Revenue of US$147.8mln was ahead of analysts’ estimated of US$131.1mln.
Twilio shares were trading 16.5% higher at US$73.71 ahead of the official start of trading.
From Twilio to Zillow … and although the names may sound vaguely similar, their fortunes today look like they will be very different.
Zillow Group Inc (NASDAQ@ZG) plunged 17.4% to US$48.75 after its revenue guidance proved an unpleasant surprise to Wall Street.
The real estate company said it expects third-quarter revenue will clock in at somewhere between US$337mln and US$347mln, compared to the US$412mln consensus forecast in the community of analysts following the stock.
Full-year revenue guidance has been set at US$1.32bn – US$1.35bn, some way short of the consensus forecast of US$1.49bn.
The company did not exactly cover itself in glory with its second quarter numbers, reporting EPS of 13 cents on revenue of US$325mln; the consensus forecasts had been for EPS of 10 cents on revenue of US$326mln.
Food companies that have replaced CEOs in last two years:
Coke
Pepsi
Mondolez
Kellogg
Campbell's
Tyson
Hain Celestial
Gen Mills
Nestle USA
Smuckers
Hormel
Dean Foods
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) August 6, 2018
Shares in fizzy drinks and potato chips maker PepsiCo Inc (NASDAQ:PP) were holding up well in pre-market trading activity after news broke that chief executive (CEO) Indra Nooyi is stepping down after 12 years in the post.
She will be replaced by Ramon Laguarta, who was named as president of the company and who had been widely tipped as a future CEO of the company.
The shares were barely changed ahead of the bell.
So Jason Alexander is the new @kfc colonel. He’ll start appearing ads for $20 Fill Ups today. pic.twitter.com/XDFyk0aryJ
— Jonathan Maze (@jonathanmaze) August 6, 2018
Fast food outlets owner Yum! Foods Inc (NYSE:YUM) provided some entertainment value with the news that actor and comedian Jason Alexander will be the latest big name to lick his lips at the prospect of playing the brand’s iconic founder, Colonel Sanders.
Adverts featuring Alexander as the Colonel were first aired yesterday.