PepsiCo, Mattel And Stanley Black & Decker Release Earnings

Image via Flickr/ Mathew Knott

Beverage and snack maker PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) released third-quarter earnings this morning and the numbers were essentially flat from the same quarter a year ago. Net income was $1.91 billion, or $1.23 per share, in the third quarter, up less than 1 percent from $1.90 billion, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier. Half of PepsiCo’s sales are driven by snacks and the other half from beverages. Approximately half of overall revenue is outside the U.S. Despite the lackluster performance, the company affirmed that it was on track to meet its financial goals for the year.

We’re pleased with our performance. PepsiCo has delivered double-digit core constant currency earnings per share growth year to date, despite ongoing macro-economic volatility in many markets. We’re able to perform well in these conditions because our brands are strong, our product portfolio is on-trend, and our geographic footprint is broad and diverse. Importantly, we have continued to make marketplace investments to strengthen our foundation for sustainable growth,” said Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.

The company has been under added pressure recently from activist shareholder Nelson Peltz, who is pushing PepsiCo to spin off its soft drink segment and purchase Mondelez International Inc. (NASDAQ: MDLZ), maker of such snacks as Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers. Peltz owns 2.3 percent of Mondelez.

Good news from the world’s largest toymaker. Shares of Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAT) gapped sharply higher in this morning’s trading on the release of its Q3 earnings report. For the quarter, the company reported net income of $422.8 million, or $1.21 per share, compared to last year’s third quarter net income of $365.9 million, or $1.04 per share. Mattel handily beat Wall Street’s estimates where analysts expected a profit of $1.12 a share. Sales rose 6 percent to $2.21 billion, beating the analysts’ average estimate of $2.17 billion. With the holiday season fast approaching, the news is an indicator that retail toy sales may be up substantially from last year’s lackluster levels. The company is offering more than 80 of the most wanted this holiday season, topping several annual holiday toy lists including those from Kmart, Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), and Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS).

Not such great news for Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK). Shares are trading down by over 14 percent this morning after the company revised its earnings guidance and released its quarterly financials. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $4.90 to $5.00 for the period, compared to average analyst’s consensus estimate of $5.44. SWK reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.39. It had revenue of $2.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. Quarterly revenue was up 9.6 percent on a year-over-year basis. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 payable on 10 December to shareholders of record.

Disclosure: The author has no position in the stocks mentioned in this article, and does not intend to initiate any position in the next 48 hours.