SYSCO: Net Up 15%, But Misses Estimates by a Penny

SYSCO Corp., the largest food distributor in the U.S., reported Q3 net income increased 15% to $217.2 million, or $0.35/share, but fell a penny short of analysts' average EPS estimate. Revenue grew 5.3% to $8.57b, but also missed analysts' forecast ($8.79b). SYSCO is implementing more of a centralized hub warehousing system, which Bloomberg reports a UBS analyst commented on last month: "The lack of coordinated buying has been an impediment. [The central hubs] "should provide virtually pure upside.'' Gross margins improved slightly to 19.06%, from 18.87% in the same period last year. Shares of SYSCO lost 1.1% to $34.32 on Friday and have traded between $26.50 - $37.04 over the past year.

Sources: Press release, Bloomberg
Commentary: Consumer Staples Far Below 50-DMA: Buying Opportunity? • Jim Cramer's Take on SYSCO
Stocks/ETFs to watch: SYSCO Corp. (SYY). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Consumer Staples (PSL)

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