If you feel like your morning cup of coffee has gotten more bitter lately, its not a gustatory illusion: Many of America's major brands have been quietly tweaking their blends to keep their prices level.
How much would you pay for a cup of Starbucks coffee? Starbucks hopes it's a lot, because it has been hiking prices on its brewed beverages. Meanwhile, everybody else in the coffee biz seems to be doing the exact opposite.
Wednesday's IPO by the underwhelming Dunkin' Brands saw the company open at $19 before closing out the week nearly $10 a share higher. It's hard to see the appeal of this slow-growth business. But that's not the only bewildering, boneheaded development from last week on Wall Street.
Dell will highlight a handful of tech company results this week. Also reporting earnings will be food giants Smucker and Campbell Soup, also Marriott and other members of the lodging and hospitality industry, and the first of a long string of results from retailers.
J.M. Smucker's first-quarter earnings rose 5%, even as sales inched lower compared with the same period a year ago on slightly improving profit margins. The No. 1 jam maker in the U.S. earned $102.9 million, or 86 cents a share, in its fiscal first-quarter 2011, up from $98.1 million, or 83 cents a share, in the year-ago period.
J. M. Smucker today announced that fourth-quarter net income rose 28% from the same quarter last year, bolstered by its acquisition of coffee maker Folgers.
TD Ameritrade reported earnings below expectations, largely due to declining trade income and a low interest rate environment. The company recorded profits of 23 cents per share, down from 31 cents per share, a year earlier.
J.M. Smucker has long been known as a jam and peanut butter brand. But as coffee's popularity keeps growing for millions of Americans, Smucker has lately emerged as an unlikely java play, thanks to its 2008 acquisition of Folger's and the Dunkin Donuts brand.
