Dive Brief:
- Pilgrim's Corp., formerly known as Pilgrim's Pride, reported widening profit margins as it continued its cost-cutting initiatives.
- The Greeley, CO-based poultry company said net income rose 80% in the first quarter to $98.1 million even as sales slipped 0.9% to $2.02 billion.
- The company's gross margin widened to 10.7% from 5.8%.
Dive Insight:
Pilgrim's ability to find places to cut costs is quite remarkable. The company's recent earnings releases have shown extraordinary improvements in the bottom line, even as the top line remains constant. Investors just love this approach ... and the company's shares have tripled in the past two years.
Wall Street reacted to yesterday's earnings news with the customary fanfare. Pilgrim's shares rose 1.67%, despite the fact that earnings actually fell short of analysts expectations.