In the wake of Kraft Heinz's (KHC) bid for Unilever (UN), Citi analyst Adam Spielman weighed in on the implications for consumer staples globally and said he thinks further M&A is likely, most probably in the U.S. He believes Kraft may still look at Unilever's food assets, or could target General Mills (GIS) or Kellogg (K). He also sees Mondelez (MDLZ) as a possible, but less likely, target for Kraft. Unilever could react by entering new categories, but Spielman sees it as more likely to reinforce existing strengths, "which points to" Colgate (CL) or Edgewell (EPC), he tells investors.

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Bullish option flow detected in Kraft Heinz with 6,559 calls trading, 1.0x expected, and implied vol increasing over 1 point to 23.05%. 6/7 weekly 42 calls and Dec-24 40 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 3,400 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.24. Earnings are expected on May 1st.

General Mills is exploring a sale of its North America yogurt business in a deal that could be worth more than $2B, Abigail Summerville of Reuters reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The company is working with JPMorgan to gauge interest from potential buyers that could include rival snack food makers and private equity firms, sources told Reuters. Reference Link

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Based on current spot rates: The company is raising its net sales growth guidance to 2% to 5% (versus 1% to 4% previously) including a mid-single-digit negative impact from foreign exchange (versus low-single-digit negative impact previously). FY24 revenue consensus $18.83B. The company is raising its organic sales growth guidance to 5% to 7% (versus 3% to 5% previously). On a GAAP basis, the company still expects gross profit margin expansion, increased advertising investment and double-digit earnings-per-share growth. On a non-GAAP (Base Business) basis, the company still expects gross profit margin expansion, increased advertising investment and mid to high-single-digit earnings-per-share growth.

Reports Q1 revenue $5.07B, consensus $4.63B. Noel Wallace, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the Base Business first quarter results, "We are very pleased to have started 2024 with another quarter of strong top and bottom line performance as we continued to execute our strategy successfully. Net sales increased 6.2% and organic sales grew 9.8%, with organic sales growth in every division and across all categories. We are particularly pleased to have delivered double-digit growth in operating profit, net income and earnings per share for the third consecutive quarter while still investing for the long-term health of our business. The strong gross and operating margin expansion in the quarter funded a 16% increase in advertising and we expect strong levels of brand investment over the balance of 2024. We also continued to invest behind building and scaling the capabilities needed to drive our growth going forward, in areas like innovation, digital, data and analytics, revenue growth management and marketing effectiveness. Our strong growth momentum and great start to the year add to our confidence that we are executing the right strategies to deliver on our updated 2024 financial targets and generate consistent, compounded earnings per share growth."

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Exxon Mobil (XOM), consensus $2.20... Chevron (CVX), consensus $2.87... AbbVie (ABBV), consensus $2.23... HCA Healthcare (HCA), consensus $5.01... Colgate-Palmolive (CL), consensus 81c... Charter (CHTR), consensus $7.92... AutoNation (AN), consensus $4.27.