Campbell Soup beats sales and profit estimates

Campbell Soup Co. said Tuesday it had net income of $292 million, or 94 cents a share, in its first fiscal quarter to Oct. 30, up from $194 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to $1.00, ahead of the FactSet consensus of 95 cents. Sales edged down to $2.202 billion from $2.203 billion, but were also ahead of the FactSet consensus of $2.198 billion. "As expected, organic sales were down slightly compared to the prior year, due to the performance of Campbell Fresh," Chief Executive Denise Morrison said in a statement. "Campbell Fresh continues to rebuild capacity for Bolthouse Farms Protein PLUS drinks following a voluntary recall last quarter, and remains focused on working to regain lost carrot customers over time with improved quality." The company said it still expects full-year sales to be flat to up 1%, and adjusted per-share earnings to rise 2% to 5%. Shares were not yet active in premarket trade, but are up 4.7% in the year so far, while the S&P 500 has climbed 7.6%.

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