TOP STORIES

Pizza Hut, Wendy's Operator Files Chapter 11 -- Market Talk

0758 ET - Restaurant franchisee NPC International Inc. files Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas. The US's largest Pizza Hut owner says it has $1 billions to $10 billion in assets and liabilities. "We view it as an opportunity to create a better future for NPC's Pizza Hut restaurants," a Pizza Hut spokesman says in response. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday the operator was expected to file given roughly $800M in debt. NPC also owns nearly 400 Wendy's Co. units. Wendy's down 2.6% in pre-market trading. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

General Mills Beats Expectations as Consumers Eat at Home During Pandemic

General Mills Inc. beat Wall Street forecasts for sales and profit for its fiscal fourth quarter as consumers stocked up on its food amid coronavirus-related lockdowns.

The producer of Cheerios cereal, Häagen-Dazs ice cream, Nature Valley granola bars and other products reported Wednesday $5.02 billion in sales for the quarter that ended May 31, up from $4.16 billion a year earlier and ahead of the $4.99 billion that analysts predicted.

Comparable sales rose 16% in the quarter.

STORIES OF INTEREST

General Mills Skips Forecast For FY21 Due To Pandemic -- Market Talk

0817 ET - General Mills doesn't provide a forecast, including for organic net sales and adjusted profit per share, for its new fiscal year, which began June 1, citing uncertainty tied to the pandemic. The maker of Cheerios, Nature Valley granola bars and a bevy of other products does see the pandemic, as well as a recession, resulting in higher orders for its food. The question facing General Mills--and the packaged-food industry writ large--is how long and with what magnitude the elevated demand tied to the coronavirus-related eating-at-home will continue. Among other factors, General Mills says it is assessing everything from the level of virus control and the possibility of a vaccine to GDP growth and consumer confidence to try to figure that out. Shares down 2.5% premarket. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

Denny's to Hire 10,000 Workers, Prices Public Offering

Denny's Corp. said Wednesday it plans to hire 10,000 restaurant-level employees at both company and franchise operated restaurants across the U.S. by the end of 2020.

The restaurant company said with dine-in restrictions lifting and guests returning to restaurants as well as taking advantage of takeout and delivery options, it is encouraging people, especially those in the severely impacted restaurant industry, to apply for a position at one of its franchises or company-owned restaurants around the country.

FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle Finishes Day Higher -- Market Talk

15:48 ET - Live-cattle futures finish trading 1.1% higher at 97.3 cents a pound. It's the highest live cattle have traded since early June, rising ahead of the Independence Day holiday--a big grilling holiday in the US. Meanwhile, hog futures rise just 0.1% to 49.075c amid signs that the industry may be righting itself after the Covid-19 outbreak in the US hurt meat demand. "Hog weights jumped when animals started to back up ahead of packing plants, but last week the average weight declined by 2 pounds per animal," Karl Setzer of AgriVisor says. "While still above average, this shows the hog situation may be starting to remedy itself." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com, @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jul 1 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jul  1       +$ 69.96            +$  3.68 
Jun 30       +$ 67.36            +$  1.34 
Jun 29       +$ 71.29            +$  5.53 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice   93.2 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  101.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $1.59 per hundred pounds, to $205.38, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.47 per hundred pounds, to $198.43. The total load count was 193. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.09, to $63.45 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 01, 2020 17:16 ET (21:16 GMT)

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