UPDATE: Hormel Foods FQ2 Profit Rises 17%

Hormel Foods Corp

reported a 17% rise in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Hormel Foods' quarterly profit surged to $127.9 million, or $0.48 per share, versus $109.6 million, or $0.40 per share, in the year-ago period. Its sales climbed 2.7% to $2.01 billion, while overall sales volume fell 2%. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.42 per share on revenue of $2.05 billion. Its gross margin came in flat at 16.7%. At the refrigerated-foods business, sales dropped 0.8%, while operating profit declined 25%. Hormel Foods shares closed at $29.19 yesterday.