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☆ Cramer one-on-one with CAG
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Cramer one-on-one with CAGMad Money host Jim Cramer talks to Conagra CEO Sean Connolly about its earnings, consumer demand and brand recognition.

☆ Hot off an up quarter for stocks, investors turn to jobs, manufacturing data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Another busy week of macroeconomic data will kick of the new quarter, following a volatile first quarter for stocks that ultimately finished in the black. The market's second quarter kicks off Monday with the ISM manufacturing report, followed on Tuesday by data on factory orders. We're looking for a Goldilocks report: not so hot to stoke more inflation fears, but not so cold to intensify worries about a recession. Wednesday's ADP employment report is also important, given the Fed's goal of slowing the job market to bring down inflation. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Top 10 things to watch in the stock market Monday: Banks, Nvidia, Starbucks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The market puts about 60% odds on a quarter-point rate hike and 40% odds on no hike as policymakers watch of the unfolding banking struggles. Sign up for my Top 10 morning thoughts on the market email newsletter for free 2. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: UBS, Netflix, First Republic, Carnival, Meta, Amazon & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Morgan Stanley reiterates Match as a top pick Morgan Stanley said it sees more industry growth for stocks such as Match. Deutsche Bank upgrades Kimberly-Clark and Conagra to hold from sell Deutsche upgraded several staples manufacturers mainly on valuation. Deutsche Bank upgrades Dow to buy from hold Deutsche said the "worst is behind us." Morgan Stanley reiterates First Republic as underweight Morgan Stanley said it sees too many negative outcomes for First Republic. Bank of America reiterates Nvidia as buy Bank of America said it's bullish heading into Nvidia's flagship AI and tech conference this week.

☆ Food is getting cheaper. But not for you
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

When food producers started raising prices a few years ago, they blamed their own costs, including higher ingredient prices. Many food companies are forecasting that they might slow down or pause price increases — but not lower them. But ingredients typically make up a small portion of overall food costs. Companies are maintaining elevated prices, or continuing to increase them, at a time when many Americans are already struggling to pay for food, especially as pandemic-era food stamp benefits expire. So people keep buying food at the grocery store, despite higher prices — giving producers an opportunity to convince retailers that those higher prices won’t drive customers away.

☆ Bath & Body Works adds director, Third Point backs off proxy fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Shoppers wait in line outside a Bath and Body Works retail store in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoNEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) on Monday named veteran financial executive and board member Thomas Kuhn as a new director, ending a potential challenge from billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point. "Tom’s 35 year history as a respected financial and legal advisor, including working with consumer companies, will bring an important perspective to Bath & Body Works as it focuses on its key strategic initiatives to maximize shareholder value," Bath & Body Works board chair Sarah Nash said in a statement. Bath & Body Works, which is valued at roughly $10 billion, has been operating as a standalone company since 2021. At Bath & Body Works the company was advised by law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, financial services company J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, proxy solicitor Innisfree M&A Inc and public relations firm Joele Frank.

☆ Bath & Body Works calls investor Third Point's proxy contest "misguided"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) said on Monday investor Third Point's potential proxy contest is misguided and is a result of the specialty retailer not willing to appoint the hedge fund's former co-chief investment officer to its board. Bath & Body Works said in the last twelve months the board has appointed four highly qualified directors, of which Lucy Brady, a senior executive at Conagra Brands (CAG.N), was proposed by Third Point. In a letter to its shareholders, the company said the potential proxy contest was due to the board's unwillingness to appoint Loeb's former partner Munib Islam to the board. Islam, who played a key role in Third Point's activist campaigns, left the firm in 2020 and is now a senior executive at LTS One, an investment partnership. While it has taken "reasonable" steps to avoid a proxy fight, Bath & Body Works said it is "disappointing and unfortunate" that it will have to spend more time on this despite efforts to engage productively with the hedge fund.

[1/3] Ben & Jerry's, a brand of Unilever, is seen on display in a store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., March 24, 2022. Nestle said cutting products saved 1 billion Swiss francs last year ($1.06 billion), while Unilever said the practice saved $2 billion. Food makers tend to cull products without much fanfare. At the consumer products conference they highlighted new offerings, many of them increasingly popular handheld foods that people can eat while scrolling on phones. "You'd be shocked by the loyalty and personal connections people have to food products," he said.

[1/3] Ben & Jerry's, a brand of Unilever, is seen on display in a store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., March 24, 2022. Eliminating less popular products is part of a "decomplexity program" underway at Kraft Heinz, its executives said at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference this week. Nestle said cutting products saved 1 billion Swiss francs last year ($1.06 billion), while Unilever said the practice saved $2 billion. At the consumer products conference they highlighted new offerings, many of them increasingly popular handheld foods that people can eat while scrolling on phones. "You'd be shocked by the loyalty and personal connections people have to food products," he said.

Big brands have seen earnings propelled by double-digit price hikes – even if it has had a negative impact on demand elasticity. Only two-thirds (67%) of the companies that have reported have beat earnings estimates, the lowest beat rate in eight years. But workforce reductions aren't the only way for companies to cut costs, or necessarily the best way in a tight labor market. We've seen notable examples across industries of just how important general cost cuts have been this earnings season. Of course, Airbnb was one of the first companies to cut costs when the pandemic hit.

☆ Bath & Body Works adds second new director amid pressure from Third Point
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Last week Bath & Body Works added Lucy Brady, a senior executive at Conagra Brands (CAG.N) and consumer products veteran to the board, expanding the group to 11 from 10 members. Voskuil and Brady's appointments come weeks after Third Point, which owns a 6% stake in the company, hinted it might push for board seats. In December Third Point announced its stake in a regulatoryfiling and criticized the company's high costs, includinggenerous executive pay. Bath & Body Works, best known for selling soaps, candles andlotions, is valued at $10 billion. Third Point spent an average of $38.16 per share on thestock which is now trading at $40.76.

☆ Similac maker Abbott could face criminal penalties of up to $500,000 per offense in DOJ probe of factory conditions amid the baby formula shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Similac maker Abbott is under federal criminal investigation for its role in the baby formula shortage. The possible charges carry penalties of up to $500,000 for corporations and up to a year of prison time for individuals. "It's a layup for a misdemeanor charge against Abbott," a food-safety attorney told Crain's Chicago. "It's a layup for a misdemeanor charge against Abbott and/or particular executives who were in charge of that plant," food-safety attorney Bill Merler told Crain's Chicago Business. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control said it could not conclusively link the multiple strains of bacteria found at the Abbott plant with those that led to the deaths of two infants in Ohio.

After pushing prices to new heights last year, some companies are starting to pull back. It could be another sign that inflation is starting to turn a corner. Conagra Brands Inc., which makes Hunt’s ketchup and Slim Jim meat sticks, raised prices 17% in its latest quarter, on top of two previous quarters, when it increased prices more than 10%.

☆ Companies’ Capital Spending Forecast to Slow in 2023 Amid Recession Fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

Companies are expected to tap the brakes on capital investments this year as they assess the risk of a downturn and contend with higher financing costs. Capital spending in 2021 rose by 9% compared with 2020, the first year of the pandemic, EY said. After two years of spending heavily, some companies want to take a pause to digest the investments they’ve made, advisers said. FedEx Corp. last month lowered its capital spending forecast for the current fiscal year by $400 million, to $5.9 billion. The remainder said they don’t finance their capital spending plans through borrowing, or their borrowing isn’t sensitive to changes in interest rates.

☆ Trader Talk: Earnings are mostly about hopes for the second half
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Earnings: It's all about the second half of 2023. Wall Street analysts agree, but they are expecting a much rosier outcome in the second half of the year. "The big question is, are the worst of the earnings estimate cuts for 2023 behind us?," Nick Raich from Earnings Scout told me. Big cap tech earnings: laggards (Q4 year over year earnings ests.) Analysts embrace 'tough first half, better second half' scenario All the hopes for earnings growth are now pinned on the back half of the year, when the Fed is expected to have halted its rate hike frenzy.

☆ Conagra CFO Doesn’t See Need for Big Price Increases in Near Term
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Photo: Conagra Brands“We won’t have any more significant price increases unless our cost, our inflation estimate, starts to go back up,” Mr. Marberger said. The reading comes amid moderating price increases after a peak of 9.1% in June. I never, ever remember that kind of a price increase,” Mr. Marberger said. “They are now turning the corner and from here are going to need less rapid price increases, unless some other price shocks occur.”Conagra’s sales volumes fell 8.4% for the quarter ended Nov. 27 as customers responded to the price increases, the company said. “And that plays well for us.”Overall, Conagra’s customers—which include retailers Walmart Inc. and Kroger Co. —have accepted the price increases, Mr. Marberger said.

Price growth in the U.S. cooled in December as the economy continued to show signs of weakening. Thursday's BLS data showed food prices advanced 0.3% on a monthly basis in December. Economists at Bank of America say Thursday's inflation report is unlikely to cause Fed officials to abandon their plan to aggressively slow the economy through interest rate hikes. "While there are growing signs that inflation has peaked, the Fed is worried about the overheating labor market," the economists said in a report this week. "Our outlook for the December [inflation] report is unlikely to quell those concerns."

Known for its Birds Eye, Chef Boyardee and Slim Jim brands, Conagra is increasing some of its prices in its current fiscal 2023 third quarter. "We don't currently have any plans to take additional pricing beyond that," Connolly said, noting the plans could change if inflation persists. The price of groceries eaten at home rose an estimated 11%-12% in 2022, versus a 7%-8% increase in restaurant menu prices, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "If you're going to spend your day at home instead of in the office, odds are the breakfast and the lunch that you're going to have is going to be a product like a Healthy Choice Power Bowl," Connolly said. "We've now moved it to just about everything we sell in our frozen meals business," he said.

NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Conagra Brands Inc (CAG.N) Chief Executive Officer Sean Connolly said in a Reuters Newsmaker interview on Tuesday that he sees double-digit inflation in fiscal 2023, although protein costs are moderating. The company, known for its brands Birds Eye and Chef Boyardee, raised its full-year forecasts last week, after beating quarterly results, helped mainly by higher prices for its snacks and ready-to-eat meals. Its share price rose 12% in 2022 and shot up further after the improved forecasts. Packaged food makers have undergone several rounds of price increases in the past year to shield their profit margins from higher costs, which people have accepted as they find eating out far more expensive than cooking at home. Reporting by Jessica DiNapoli and Hilary Russ in New York Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Market expectations for a soft landing are growing after latest batch of economic reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

"This is the definition of a soft landing," Apollo Global's chief economist Torsten Slok said on CNBC's " Closing Bell " on Friday. The price hikes at Conagra were crazy. Those price hikes more than made up for higher costs. We may be reaching the limits of price hikes, however: Constellation Brands said consumers are pushing back against beer price hikes. If December's consumer price index, out Thursday, is benign (below the 6.5% year over year growth expected), the market could move even higher.

☆ Conagra Is Your Food Value Play for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Aaron Back | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

American food companies had a strong 2022. One relative laggard in the sector, Conagra Brands, looks positioned to break out this year. The company, which owns brands such as Birds Eye frozen vegetables, Hunt’s tomato products and Reddi Wip, reported strong results on Thursday. Organic sales, which strip out currency fluctuations and merger impacts, rose 8.6% from a year earlier in the company’s second fiscal quarter, which ended on Nov. 27. That was just ahead of analyst expectations for an 8.4% rise, according to Visible Alpha.

☆ Conagra Raises Outlook as Higher Prices Continue to Lift Sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Dean Seal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Conagra, which makes Slim Jim meat snacks, said Thursday it was still working against inflated input costs. Conagra Brands Inc. expects higher sales and earnings for fiscal 2023 after the food company continued to raise prices to stave off inflation and supply-chain pressures. The Chicago-based maker of Healthy Choice frozen meals and Slim Jim meat sticks said revenue rose 8.3% to $3.31 billion in the quarter ended Nov. 27 thanks to price increases and a shift in the mix of products it sold.

☆ Conagra Brands raises 2023 forecast on price increases
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of the company, known for its brands Birds Eye and Chef Boyardee, rose about 4% in premarket trading. But people have accepted the higher prices with little push back, as they find eating out far more expensive than cooking at home. On Thursday, Conagra forecast a 7% and 8% rise in full-year 2023 organic sales, which excludes impact from foreign exchange, divested businesses and acquisitions, compared with the previous expectation of 4% to 5% growth. Conagra said its higher average selling prices boosted organic sales by 17%, offseting an 8.4% decline in sales volumes in the second quarter. Net sales rose to $3.31 billion, while analysts had expected $3.28 billion in sales.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Silvergate, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Silvergate — Shares of the crypto-focused bank tumbled more than 42% after Silvergate disclosed massive customer withdrawals during the fourth quarter. Bed Bath & Beyond — The home goods retailer plummeted 24% after reporting it's running out of cash and is considering bankruptcy, citing weaker-than-expected sales. Constellation Brands — The alcoholic beverage maker's shares fell 8.8% after quarterly earnings came in slightly lower than analysts expected, according to FactSet. The food company reported earnings of 81 cents per share on revenue of $3.31 billion in revenue. GE Healthcare Technologies — Shares of the new public company fell 3% on their second day of trading, after rallying 8% on Wednesday.

☆ Earnings Exchange: WBA, STZ & CAG
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEarnings Exchange: WBA, STZ & CAGDavid Katz, Matrix Asset Advisors chief investment officer, joins ‘The Exchange’ to discuss a few stocks ahead of earnings including: Walgreens, Constellation Brands and Conagra.

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