Tyson Foods Third Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) will unveil its latest earnings on Monday, August 6, 2012. Tyson Foods and its subsidiaries produce, distribute and market chicken, beef, pork, prepared foods and related products.

Tyson Foods Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for net income of 54 cents per share, a rise of 17.4% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from 56 cents. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at 54 cents during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 3.2% compared to last year’s $1.95.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company beat estimates by 6 cents, coming in at profit of 44 cents per share against an estimate of net income of. The company also topped expectations in the first quarter.

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Stock Price Performance: Between June 4, 2012 and July 31, 2012, the stock price had fallen $3.58 (-19.3%), from $18.59 to $15.01. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between May 4, 2012 and May 11, 2012, when shares rose for six straight days, increasing 8.5% (+$1.54) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between June 29, 2012 and July 17, 2012 when shares fell for 12 straight days, dropping 18% (-$3.38) over that span.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: On average, analysts predict $8.75 billion in revenue this quarter, a rise of 6.1% from the year-ago quarter. Analysts are forecasting total revenue of $34.03 billion for the year, a rise of 5.5% from last year’s revenue of $32.27 billion.

A Look Back: In the second quarter, profit rose 4.4% to $166 million (44 cents a share) from $159 million (42 cents a share) the year earlier, exceeding analyst expectations. Revenue rose 3.4% to $8.27 billion from $8 billion.

Key Stats:

On the top line, the company is looking to build on four-straight revenue increases heading into this earnings announcement. Revenue rose 10.9% in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, 12.9% in the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and 9.4% in the first quarter before increasing again in the second quarter.

After some good news last quarter, the company is trying to build on the result with this upcoming earnings announcement. Net income fell in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year and the first quarter before snapping that run with a profit increase in the second quarter.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 2.19 last quarter. Having a ratio above 2:1 is usually considered a good indicator of a company’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands.

Analyst Ratings: With five analysts rating the stock as a buy, three rating it as a sell and four rating it as a hold, there are indications of a bullish outlook.

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(Company fundamentals by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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