Mondelez bucks the trend

Article Excerpt

MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC. $43 (Nasdaq symbol MDLZ; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $64.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; Dividend yield: 2.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.mondelezinternational.com) makes cookies and crackers (Oreo, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone), gum and candy (Trident, Dentyne) and Halls cough drops. Despite slowing demand for processed foods as consumers switch to healthier alternatives, snack-food sales remain strong, particularly in developing countries. International markets make up 75% of the company’s sales. In the quarter ended June 30, 2018, Mondelez’s overall sales rose 2.1%, to $6.1 billion from $6.0 billion a year earlier. If you exclude currency rates and businesses it bought and sold in the past year, sales gained 3.5%. The company also continues to aggressively cut costs. Earnings in the quarter rose 12.2%, to $826 million from $736 million. Per-share earnings gained 16.7%, to $0.56 from $0.48, on fewer shares outstanding. Mondelez’s gross margin in the latest quarter rose to 16.7% from 15.4% a year earlier. That…