TOP STORIES

Wendy's Posts Lower 2Q Profit, Sales

Wendy's Co. said its profit and sales for the second quarter fell as dining rooms were closed due to Covid-19 shelter-in-place measures.

The fast-food chain on Wednesday posted net income of $24.9 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with $32.4 million, or 14 cents a share, in the comparable quarter last year. Adjusted earnings were 12 cents a share, slightly beating expectations of analysts polled by FactSet.

Lean Times Ahead for Chicken Industry -- Market Talk

09:31 ET - Poultry suppliers like Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms face a tough slog through the pandemic and recovery, as chickens remain in high supply and restaurant business stays slow, according to Credit Suisse analysts. Supply and demand haven't been favorable: Poultry companies are increasing production even as commodity chicken prices have declined and pork and beef production rises, and exports have been tepid recently. Shifting processing from foodservice to retail has made some plants less efficient, the firm says. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Wendy's Navigating Beef Supply Outages -- Market Talk

0906 ET - Wendy's says it's shifting marketing to chicken products given spot outages of fresh beef. The shortages related to the coronavirus peaked in May and have improved since, though some markets still have shortages at times, the fast-food company says in 2Q earnings. The company also removed side salads and wraps from US menus to boost speed of service during the virus. Wendy's falls 2% in pre-market trading. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

Beyond Meat Trails Meat Competitors on Reporting Environmental Impact, S&P Global Says -- Market Talk

1222 GMT - Plant-based burger maker Beyond Meat is behind meat competitors Tyson Foods and Hormel Foods when it comes to disclosing its environmental impact, according to a study by Trucost, which is part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and measures how transparent U.S. companies are on their climate-change impact. Socially minded consumers have turned to plant-based meat substitutes as these are viewed as healthier and have a lower environmental impact. These stocks have also gained popularity among responsible investors. S&P Global says Beyond Meat hasn't disclosed the amount of greenhouse gases emitted or the volume of water discharged as a direct result of its operations, while its rivals Tyson and Hormel Foods have a weighted disclosure ratio of 100% for greenhouse-gas emissions. (maitane.sardon@wsj.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Finish Higher -- Market Talk

14:58 ET - Lean hog futures trading on the CME finish 0.6% higher, closing at 49.3 cents per pound. Livestock traders say that the market isn't finding a clear direction, amid uncertainty as to how large hog slaughter figures will coincide with uncertain consumer demand amid a lingering coronavirus pandemic. "Volatile trade in pork product including hams and bellies has left the perception that pork prices might be too cheap," says RJO Futures. "Given the huge supply of pork which the market needs to absorb, plus the sluggish domestic demand at this time of the year, the upside seems limited." Live cattle futures, meanwhile, finish unchanged at $1.0745 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Aug 5 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                            integrated operations 
 
Aug  5       +$ 55.77            +$ 10.18 
 
Aug  4       +$ 51.79            +$  6.74 
 
Aug  3       +$ 51.77            +$  9.40 
 
* 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   94.3 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select   99.1 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade and select-grade beef prices and wholesale pork prices for Wednesday are unavailable.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 05, 2020 18:23 ET (22:23 GMT)