Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Investopedia: Kraft Stares Down A Catch-22

It is common to find investors and writers talk about food companies like Kraft (NYSE:KFT) in the context of "people always have to eat." While that is true, it overlooks a fairly important point - nobody has to eat their food. There is a big difference between food companies like Kraft and Kellogg (NYSE:K) and the likes of ConAgra (NYSE:CAG) and investors should not just lump all food companies into the same basket. While Kraft certainly has a tough environment to navigate and may have indeed overpaid for Cadbury, this is a food company that merits more than casual attention. 

The Quarter that Was
All in all, Kraft delivered a quarter that was a little complicated (due to charges and adjustments and the like), but pretty much consistent with expectations. Sales, though, were a bit higher than the analysts expected. On a reported basis, Kraft served up 5.7% organic revenue growth this quarter, or 4.7% if the effect of an extra week in the quarter is subtracted. The legacy business delivered growth of 5.3%, while Cadbury chipped in about 2.2% organic growth.

Looking at profitability, Kraft's story was like so many others this quarter - mixed. The company's gross margin fell by two points and that appears to be worse than most analysts expected, as the analyst community was apparently surprised by the extent of cost inflation in the market. On a more positive note, the company trimmed down operating expenses better than most expected (and the Cadbury integration is ahead of schedule) and recaptured some of that lost margin, as adjusted operating margin ticked up 20 basis points from the year-ago period. Continuing an oddly consistent trend (at least among the large corporations), Kraft reported lower-than-expected taxes and that helped the company meet the earnings-per-share target for the fourth quarter. (For more, see The Unseen Taxes That You Pay Every Day.)


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http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2011/Kraft-Stares-Down-A-Catch-22-KFT-K-CAG-SBUX-KO-PEP-UL0215.aspx

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