TOP STORIES
Dave & Buster's Shares Fall 15%
Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc. shares slipped 15% Thursday morning after the company warned it could have to file for bankruptcy. Shares of Dave & Buster's were trading at $16.31 a share Thursday morning. The company, which has also announced layoffs, recently said that location closures because of the Covid-19 pandemic have hurt revenue and foot traffic.
Co-Operative Group 1H Profit Rose on Pandemic-Boosted Revenue
Co-Operative Group reported Thursday a rise in first-half pretax profit on revenue boosted by the coronavirus pandemic. The British grocer and funeral-services provider made a pretax profit of 27 million pounds ($35 million) for the six months compared with a restated GBP20 million for the year-earlier period.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Buy McDonald's Stock, Analyst Says. Celebrity Meals Will Drive Sales Gains. -- Barrons.com
Although the Covid-19 pandemic has hurt many restaurants, McDonald's stock is up nearly 13% in 2020, and Longbow Research thinks the fast-food purveyor is continuing to recover -- with the help of celebrities. Analyst Alton Stump reiterated a Buy rating and raised his price target on McDonald's (ticker: MCD) to $249 from $227 on Thursday. He writes that his latest conversations with franchisees lead him to believe that comparable sales continued to improve throughout August and September, with a sharp pickup last week, thanks to the company's new meal-deal collaboration.
Hilton Food Had a Positive 1H 2021, Is Likely to Improve Further -- Market Talk
1022 GMT - Hilton Food Group has performed well through the pandemic and has further opportunities ahead, Peel Hunt says. The food-packing business experienced additional volumes which more than compensated for higher costs during the first half of fiscal 2021, the brokerage notes. Furthermore, "the company is continuing to move forward strategically with the new site in Belgium due to open in October, and undoubtedly there will be additional opportunities," it adds. Peel Hunt has a buy rating on the stock and a target price of 1,350 pence. Shares are up 0.7% at 1,206 pence. (matteo.castia@dowjones.com)
FUTURES MARKETS
Hog Futures Finish Higher -- Market Talk
15:18 ET - Hog futures trading on the CME finished higher, with the most-active contract closing up 2.7% at 63.625 cents per pound. For hog futures, the uptick in futures prices followed the strong uptick seen in carcass cutout prices - with the carcass price rising $7.93 per hundredweight mid-day to $91.07 per cwt. That's an increase of 12.1% in the past five days alone. The higher prices comes as export demand for US pork appears to be stronger, with net sales reported by the USDA at 50,600 metric tons this week. Live cattle futures closed trading Thursday down 0.6% at $1.11325 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 17
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Sep 17 +$ 42.20 +$ 58.93
Sep 16 +$ 38.36 +$ 50.53
Sep 15 +$ 45.19 +$ 52.91
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
Beef-O-Meter
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
Beef
For Today Choice 98.5
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 105.9
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell 33 cents per hundred pounds, to $215.05, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.12 per hundred pounds, to $203.39. The total load count was 217. Wholesale pork prices rose $3.91, to $86.48 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
