Investors have unquestionably grown more and more concerned about the
ag sector over the past 12 months. Corn and soybean prices have
rebounded from the end of September, but soy prices in particular are
well below the year-ago levels. With less profitable insurance levels
likely for 2015, planted acres may well come under pressure and some
farmers may be tempted to skimp on seed traits as a way of saving money.
That's not a great backdrop for Monsanto (NYSE:MON), but I continue to believe that Monsanto will be hurt less than rivals like DuPont (NYSE:DD) and Syngenta (NYSE:SYT). Increasing competition is a risk, as the Chinese have approved traits from Syngenta, Bayer, and Dow's (NYSE:DOW) delayed launch of Enlist will most likely eventually become a full launch (albeit not until 2016).
What
Monsanto continues to have in its favor is a meaningful yield advantage
that supports its value proposition to farmers, not to mention a deep
pipeline of traits targeting disease resistance, yield enhancement, and
other productivity initiatives. Add in the potential of precision
ag/analytics, biologicals, and RNAI-based products, and there is still a
valid argument for Monsanto as a long-term holding even if the next
year or two are more challenging.
Continue reading here:
Strong Soy And A Deep Pipeline Supports Monsanto
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