Look past Tupperware’s dollar woes

Article Excerpt

TUPPERWARE BRANDS CORP. $66 (New York symbol TUP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 50.4 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.tupperwarebrands.com) makes household goods, mainly plastic food and beverage containers, as well as cosmetics and fragrances. The stock is down 32% from its peak of $97 in December 2013. That’s mainly because the company gets 75% of its sales from outside North America, and the recent rise in the U.S. dollar has hurt the contribution of its overseas operations. In the quarter ended September 27, 2014, Tupperware’s sales fell 2.4%, to $588.7 million from $603.2 million a year earlier. But if you exclude the negative impact of currency rates, sales rose 4%. Gains in emerging nations like Indonesia and Brazil offset declines in established markets, particularly Germany. Without unusual items, Tupperware’s earnings declined 12.6%, to $45.8 million from $52.4 million. Per-share earnings fell 10.0%, to $0.90 from $1.00,…