UPDATE: Smithfield Foods Posts Upbeat FQ2 Profit

Smithfield Foods

reported a 91% drop in its fiscal second-quarter earnings. Smithfield's quarterly profit fell to $10.9 million, or $0.07 per share, from $120.7 million, or $0.74 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Smithfield earned $0.61 per share. Its sales fell 2.6% to $3.23 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.45 per share on revenue of $3.3 billion. Its gross margin declined to 11.7% from 12.7% Smithfield shares closed at $22.90 yesterday.