Earnings Review: MDT, BIG, RL, KKD, HRL, CPB

Published on Friday, 25 May 2012 20:19 Written by Todd Shriber

U.S. equities were able to skirt a fifth consecutive weekly loss heading into the long weekend, but Europe continues to loom large. That much was evident this week as global investors continued to fret about the health of the Euro Zone and they don’t like what they see. On Thursday, Citigroup published a report that said Greece will exit the 17-nation common currency scheme next year. Spain may not be far behind as that country’s banks clearly need to a recapitalization plan, but a legitimate one has yet to emerge.

Europe combined with the fact that earnings season has all but ended makes it easy to gloss over what few marquee earnings were released this week. There were few, though admittedly, it’s hard to call them all noteworthy. With that, let’s review some of this week’s more important earnings reports.

Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB):

In a sign that not all defensive stocks are performing well, shares of Campbell Soup finished slightly lower on the week after the company [osted a quarterly profit of $177 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with $187 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose  to $1.821 billion, from $1.813 billion. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 56 cents. Analysts expected a profit of 52 cents on sales of 1.818 billion.  The company said it still expects full-year adjusted profit to fall 5%-7% to $2.35-$2.42.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (NYSE: KKD):

Shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts surged more than 5% on the week after the company reported a first-quarter profit of $6 million, or 8 cents per share, compared with $9.2 million, or 13 cents per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 14 cents per share. Revenue rose 3.7% to $108.5 million. Analysts expected a profit of 8 cents per share on revenue of $111.4 million.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL):

The apparel retailer said its fiscal first-quarter profit surged 29% to $94.4 million, or 99 cents per share, from $73.2 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue increased to $1.62 billion from $1.43 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 85 cents on sales of $1.6 billion. The company also doubled its quarterly dividend to 40 cents per share.

Medtronic (NYSE: MDT):

The medical device maker said its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 28% to $991 million, or 94 cents per share, from $776 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3% to $4.3 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 98 cents per share on $4.23 billion in revenue.

The company forecast fiscal 2013 EPS of $3.62-$3.70 on revenue of $16.51-$16.83 billion. Analysts are expecting earnings of $3.66 per share on $16.52 billion in revenue

Hormel (NYSE: HRL):

Food maker Hormel said its fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 17% to $127.9 million, or 48 cents per share, from $109.6 million, or 40 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales increased to $2.01 billion from $1.96 billion. Analysts expected a profit of 42 cents per share on $2.04 billion in revenue. Hormel reiterated full-year guidance of $1.79-$1.89 a share. Analysts are expecting $1.81.

Big Lots (NYSE: BIG):

The discount retailer forecast a fiscal second-quarter profit of 37-42 cents a share, well below the 54 cents analysts are expecting. The company’s fiscal first-quarter profit fell to $40.7 million, or 63 cents per share, from $52.5 million, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Big Lots earned 68 cents. Analysts expected 69 cents. Sales increased 5.4% to $1.29 billion.