Campbell Soup fiscal 3Q results beat estimates

Campbell Soup Co. on Wednesday reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $84 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Camden, New Jersey-based company said it had net income of 28 cents. Earnings, adjusted to account for discontinued operations and non-recurring costs, were 56 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 46 cents per share.

The maker of canned soup, Pepperidge Farm cookies and V8 juice posted total revenue of $2.39 billion in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $2.35 billion. During the quarter, the company agreed to sell its Bolthouse Farms business. Excluding that, revenue from continuing operations totaled $2.18 billion.

Campbell updated its guidance and now expects full-year earnings in the range of $2.50 to $2.55 per share, with revenue in the range of $9.08 billion to $9.13 billion. Previously it forecast earnings per share of $2.45 to $2.53 on revenue of $9.98 billion to $10.1 billion.

Campbell shares have risen 16% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen 12%. The stock has risen 14% in the last 12 months.

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This story has been corrected to show that quarterly sales totaled $2.39 billion, not $2.18 billion.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on CPB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CPB