12:20 p.m. ET, March 21, 2019
Snap into a Slim Jim? ConAgra soars on solid sales
From CNN Business' Paul R. La Monica
So much for deflation in the supermarket?
ConAgra Brands, the owner of Vlasic, Slim Jim, Birds Eye and Orville Redenbacher's, reported earnings that topped forecasts and a solid outlook Thursday. And the company did so by boosting prices to help offset rising transportation and commodities costs.
Shares of ConAgra (
CAG) soared 11% on the news. ConAgra's tasty results come one day after cereal giant General Mills (
GIS) also posted
solid sales and earnings, largely due to price increases.
ConAgra, like General Mills, has been making acquisitions to try and add more healthy and organic food offerings. It recently bought Pinnacle Foods, the maker of Udi's, Smart Balance and the Gardein line of meat-free meals.
It appears that this strategy is allowing ConAgra to raise prices even at a time when Amazon (
AMZN), Walmart (
WMT) and Costco (
COST) are pressuring many food companies to lower them. But the makers of other supermarket staples -- most notably Kraft Heinz (
KHC) and Kellogg (
K) -- are still struggling.