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Campbell beats Street
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February 16, 2000: 10:34 a.m. ET
Soup maker's 2Q earnings rise 28%, reflecting improved soup sales
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Campbell Soup Co. posted second-quarter earnings Wednesday that surpassed Wall Street's forecasts, reflecting improved soup sales after a weak performance in 1999.
The Camden, N.J.-based soup maker, which also makes Pepperidge Farm cookies, Prego pasta sauce and Godiva chocolates, earned $281 million, or 65 cents per diluted share, for its fiscal quarter ended Jan. 30. That's up 28 percent from $219 million, or 49 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.
The results beat analysts' estimates, according to earnings tracker First Call, by 3 cents per share, helping to push Campbell's (CPB: Research, Estimates) stock up about 7 percent in early Wednesday trading. Campbell shares, which have been trading near 52-week lows, gained 1-13/16 to 29-1/4.
Second-quarter sales rose 5 percent to $1.9 billion. The company, which has struggled to boost sales amid declining purchases of its trademark condensed soups, cited good results from its new line of ready-to-serve soups and continued growth of its pasta sauce business.
For the first six months of its fiscal year, the company earned $516 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, up from $483 million, or $1.07 per share, in the year-ago period. Year-over-year sales were virtually flat, at $3.69 billion. 
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Campbell Soup Co.
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