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Posted
Sep 08 2009, 04:05 PM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
On Monday, Kraft Foods (KFT) stunned the investing world by offering to merge with Cadbury PLC (CBY) for $16.7 billion. That represented a 42% premium to Cadbury’s stock price. But what was even more stunning is that Cadbury’s board turned the offer down. They called Kraft’s bid “fundamentally inadequate.” Ouch!
If most people were offered a 42% premium on something—anything—they’d take it, so I have to credit Cadbury’s board for showing some moxie. At least they believe in their company.
Apparently, they’re not alone. Shares of Cadbury have surged on the news that someone else will make a bid for them. This is typical Wall Street—if one company is an interested buyer, then they all must be. Bing: Kraft and Cadbury
So what’s going to happen now? I fully expect Kraft will come back to Cadbury with a sweetened offer. If I were Cadbury, I wouldn’t try to be too cute with potential suitors. Some analysts think the company could fetch as much as $21 billion, which is a lot of chocolate eggs. I currently rate both Kraft and Cadbury as sells, so almost any offer is worth taking.
Wall Street is a big playing field, so lots of corporate boards are watching this action and some are certainly interested in Cadbury
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Posted
Jul 20 2009, 06:05 PM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
It's the heart of earnings season. The good news is that earnings, so far, are exceeding expectations. The bad news is that expectations were really, really lousy.
But there are two stocks due to report this week (on Thursday, to be exact) that are worth paying attention to. Not only do I see these companies easily beating Wall Street's forecasts, they're companies I want to own. The stocks are Hershey (HSY) and Amazon (AMZN).
Hershey is, of course, the legendary chocolatier. The company makes all the candy that's near and dear to our hearts; Hershey's Kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups, Swizzles licorice, Mounds, York Peppermint Patties and Kit Kats (licensed from Nestle). To be honest, I'm not much of a chocolate lover myself, but if there's a bowl of Hershey Kisses with almonds nearby, well … I have to eat at least one.
Business has been pretty sweet for Hershey lately
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Posted
Jun 12 2009, 11:22 AM
by
Catherine Holahan
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Can you trademark a chocolate bunny? Swiss chocolate maker Lindt &
Sprüngli thinks so. The confectioner is a bit bitter about rival chocolatiers producing their own chocolate bunnies wrapped in foil. It says that it owns the rights to cocoa bunnies covered in gold foil and is pursuing its case in Europe's highest courts.
Recently, chocolate bunnies have become something of a
legal hot potato. Lindt's case revolves around whether companies can trademark a
three-dimensional shape and not just a logo. As a result, a ruling in Lindt's
favor could have legal ramifications for all manner of businesses. Consumer
products companies could trademark the shape of, say, plug-in air-fresheners
made to look like flowers. Campbell's
could perhaps trademark pasta in the shape of Latin letters. Apple
could trademark the shape of its iPod. Wait, Jobs and
Co. already did that.
Today, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg decided
it didn't want to determine the fate of the popular Easter treat and sent the
case back to the Austrian Supreme Court, according to a
Wall Street Journal article.
Gold-wrapped bunny a
gold mine for chocolatiers Read More...
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Posted
May 08 2009, 11:21 AM
by
Louis Navellier
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
If there's one thing women like, it's chocolate. So no matter what she says, Mom will probably appreciate a nicely-packaged sampling of the sweet morsels for Mother's Day.
More important to investors, though, is that the sale of chocolates is among the luxuries people are reluctant to sacrifice during a time of recession. A recent New York Times article noted that "As unemployment has risen…Americans have been consuming growing volumes of candy."
It's not surprising. Even in the depths of the depression, chocolate-lovers delivered enough profits to Hershey (HSY) that the company was able to finance its own work program for the unemployed. In fact Hershey has many of the same qualities as my Top 5 Stocks to Buy Now
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Posted
Apr 08 2009, 11:46 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Easter is later this year (April 12), which means Hershey (HSY) has more time to sell chocolate bunnies and other sweets. That's an added bonus for the company, which already saw strong Easter sales in the first quarter.
It's also another sign that Hershey continues to hold strong, even in a recession when you'd think demand for candy and chocolate would be light. But there are some indications that the recession might even help Hershey as consumers trade down from pricier brands like Lindt (which, by the way, is closing most of its U.S. boutique stores).
Investors continue to be bullish on Hershey, keeping the stock price at relatively stable levels over the past year. And analysts at Credit Suisse are feeling better about the company, too, after seeing Nielsen tracking data showing strong Easter sales. The analysts raised their first-quarter profit estimate to 34 cents a share, saying Hershey will probably not miss consensus at this point.
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Posted
Aug 21 2008, 09:06 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Some of the best investments you can make during economic downturns are those that capitalize on basic human desires.
Consider International Flavors & Fragrances, maker of the tastes and smells we experience in a variety of foods and consumer products. A company that provides simple and inexpensive pleasures is well positioned to soothe the unprecedented pressure on the American consumer.
This is especially true because consumer goods and packaged foods need to appeal to the senses to justify premium pricing over private-label store brands. An example would be Tide's Water Lily and Jasmine laundry detergent.
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Posted
Aug 18 2008, 11:22 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This is the worst of all possible worlds: Satisfying your chocolate addiction is about to cost you more -- and Hershey says the price increase will slow future growth.
The subprime mortgage mess and oil prices are just the way of the world. But chocolate?
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Posted
Jul 17 2008, 11:55 AM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
One of the best ways to play a recession is to buy candy, chocolate and other treats that have a big impact on the brain's pleasure center.
Unfortunately, Hershey, America's largest and arguably most iconic confectioner, has been a dog with lots of problems: a lame product portfolio, strengthened competition, rising materials costs, inefficient operations and a lack of exposure to blossoming international markets.
Now, with shares trading at five-year lows, a recovery may be underway.
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Posted
Apr 02 2008, 01:07 PM
by
Aaron Whallon
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A couple weeks ago about a dozen Nestle Crunch bars were sent to one of my colleagues. The box came with a note saying there was a candy bar for each member of our team. I didn't really think much of it at first. The Crunch bar sat on my desk for most of the day. Late in the afternoon I finally opened it up and broke off a piece. It was the first time I had eaten a Crunch bar in about 10 years. And I thought it was pretty good. As I expressed my satisfaction to some of my coworkers they kindly offered me their candy. And I kindly took it.
The two bars have just been sitting on my desk the past two weeks. I had pretty much forgotten about them until I came across a headline today that read "Hershey, Mars, Nestle Accused of Fixing Candy Prices."
According to a lawsuit, Giant Eagle, a Pittsburgh grocery store, is accusing the chocolate makers of fixing candy prices in the U.S.
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