AUSTIN, Minn. (AP) _ Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $227.7 million.

The Austin, Minnesota-based company said it had net income of 42 cents per share.

The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 44 cents per share.

The maker of Spam canned ham, Dinty Moore stew and other foods posted revenue of $2.42 billion in the period, exceeding Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.37 billion.

Hormel shares have climbed slightly more than 6% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has declined 8%. The stock has climbed 21% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HRL at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HRL

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News