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General Electric’s willingness to adjust keeps it a top blue chip stock, as it cuts its losses in finance and focuses on its strengths.
GENERAL MILLS INC., $57.43, New York symbol GIS, is one of the world’s largest food makers. Top brands include Big G (cereal), Green Giant (canned and frozen vegetables), Pillsbury (baking dough), Old El Paso (tacos), Progresso (soups and salads) and Yoplait (yogourt). In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended August 30, 2015, General Mills earned $426.6 million, up 23.6% from $345.2 million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 25.4%, to $0.69 from $0.55, on fewer shares outstanding. Without unusual items, such as gains and losses on hedging contracts General Mills uses to lock in certain ingredient prices, earnings per share rose 29.5%, to $0.79 from $0.61. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.69....
Its niche in medical equipment testing has made Agilent Technologies one of our top U.S. growth stocks before and after its big spinoff.
FEDEX CORP., $145.29, New York symbol FDX, reported lower-than-expected earnings this week, as weaker demand for its shipping services and higher insurance costs offset cost savings. In the first quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended August 31, 2015, the company earned $692 million, up 13.1% from $612 million a year earlier. Per-share earnings gained 14.2%, to $2.42 from $2.12, on fewer shares outstanding, but that still missed the consensus estimate of $2.46. Overall revenue rose 5.1%, to $12.3 billion from $11.7 billion, matching the consensus forecast....
Almost a century of uninterrupted dividends and a forceful growth strategy make 3M Company one of our Best Buys in U.S. stocks.
MACY’S INC., $58.19, New York symbol M, operates 885 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores. It also sells goods online. This week, the company said it would close 35 to 40 of its less profitable Macy’s stores over the next few months. In all, these outlets supply 1% of the company’s sales. It didn’t say how much it expects to pay in severance and other costs. Like most traditional retailers, Macy’s is facing intense competition from online sellers like Amazon.com, which are expanding beyond books and movies to other merchandise such as clothing, shoes and cosmetics. Specialty chains and discount retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, are also drawing shoppers away from department stores....
Microsoft’s Nokia purchase didn’t work out well, but cloud computing helps it remain one of the leading blue chip stocks in the tech world
CAMPBELL SOUP CO., $47.94, New York symbol CPB, reported better-than-expected earnings this week, thanks to acquisitions and price increases. In its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, which ended August 2, 2015, the company’s earnings fell 48.8%, to $0.22 a share from $0.43 a year earlier. Without the cost of a restructuring, including management layoffs and eliminating overlapping functions, Campbell’s earnings per share rose 4.9%, to $0.43 from $0.41. That beat the consensus estimate of $0.42. Sales fell 8.6%, to $1.69 billion from $1.85 billion, but that still matched the consensus forecast. If you adjust for the negative impact of currency rates, acquisitions of new businesses and an extra week in the year-earlier quarter, sales rose 1%. That’s partly because Campbell is giving fewer discounts to retailers....
BHP BILLITON LTD. ADRs, $36.69, New York symbol BHP, recently set up its aluminum, manganese, nickel and silver operations, as well as some coal mines, as a new firm called South32. The spinoff leaves BHP focused on four main commodities: iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper and petroleum, at properties in Australia, North America and South America. In its 2015 fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2015, BHP’s revenue fell 21.4%, to $44.6 billion from $56.8 billion in 2014. Earnings dropped 51.6%, to $6.4 billion, or $2.41 per ADR (each American depositary receipt represents two BHP common shares). In 2014, it earned $13.3 billion, or $4.99 per ADR....
WAL-MART STORES INC., $66.56, New York symbol WMT, fell 8% this week after reporting lower-than-expected earnings. But that’s partly because it’s investing heavily in its websites and hiring more workers to speed up checkout lines. It has also raised wages. In the second quarter of its 2016 fiscal year, which ended July 31, 2015, Wal-Mart’s earnings fell 11.4%, to $3.5 billion from $3.9 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 10.7%, to $1.08 from $1.21, on fewer shares outstanding, missing the consensus forecast of $1.12. Overall sales gained 0.1%, to $120.2 billion from $120.1 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $119.7 billion. Excluding the high U.S. dollar’s impact on the company’s overseas operations, revenue gained 3.6%. Online sales jumped 16%....