A tortoise was denied boarding at an airport in China after its owner’s attempt to sneak it through security checks in a KFC burger failed, state media said Wednesday. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
By GABRIELLE LEVY, UPI.com
A giant KFC bucket mysteriously showed up in Aleena Headrick’s Waynesboro, Ga., yard. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at UPI Odd News
A KFC 7-foot bucket has suddenly appeared in a woman’s front lawn in Waynesboro, Ga. …read more
Source: The Christian Post
10-cent soda, 25-cent chicken leg, and 40-cent burger—these are the secret weapons with which Hua Lai Shi Catering Management and Services, a Chinese fast food business, initially gained its foothold in the KFC and McDonald’s-dominated industry in China. Beginning with one eatery in Fuzhou, Fujian Province in 2001, Hua Lai Shi has snowballed into a national chain with 3,000 outlets in 96 cities, placing them among the largest fast-food chains based in Asia. It has expanded at a speed of one new store every three days, on par with that of McDonald’s and fellow domestic chain Dico’s, according to a January report by Ibis World Market Research. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Russell Flannery, Forbes Staff Fujian Sunner Development, a supplier to KFC in China, said today it expects to post a loss of up 239 million yuan, or $39 million, for the first half of the year in connection with food safety worries in the country. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
By Russell Flannery, Forbes Staff Shares in Yum!, whose KFC fried-chicken chain has relied on China for much its growth in sales in recent years, dropped 2.6% in U.S. trading last night as new cases of bird flu were reported in the country over the weekend.
By The Huffington Post News Editors
KFC‘s new deep-fried boneless chicken offering, Original Recipe Boneless, is set to hit stores nationwide on Sunday. But, lucky for you, The Huffington Post managed to get its hands on a bucket of the stuff ahead of schedule.
Before we get down to the nitty gritty of whether or not we liked it, an admission: As far as fast food goes, we HuffPost editors like KFC. At KFC, we know what we’re getting — we trust that we’re eating chicken breast, because, well, it looks like a chicken breast. At McDonald’s, which sells curiously-shaped chicken nuggets cut from a rolled-out mash, the conclusion isn’t forgone.
From: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/kfc-boneless-chicken_n_3071392.html
By Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor
China‘s latest bout with a new strain of avian influenza does not bode well for Yum! Brands, the company said in its 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. March same-store sales declined an estimated 13% for their China operations. This included an estimated decline of 16% at KFC and a 4% growth at Pizza Hut. Within the past week, publicity associated with bird flu in Shanghai and surrounding areas has had a negative impact on KFC sales, the company said. “Historically in these situations, we have educated consumers that properly cooked chicken is perfectly safe to eat, and we will continue to do so,” the company said in its filing. Further updates regarding Yum! Brands’ China sales will be released with first quarter earnings on April 23, 2013. April same-store sales for China will be released on May 10 after market hours. So far, the share price of Kentucky-based Yum! Brands has held up okay from the scare. The stock is up around 0.8% over the last five days but down 1.82% over the last month. China is Yum’s most lucrative market. According to its third quarter report, China accounted for more than half of its overall revenue of $3.57 billion, and the country also generated around 40% of Yum’s profit. Since opening its first KFC branch on the Chinese mainland in 1987, Yum has nearly 5,000 restaurants in more than 800 Chinese cities. Over the last month, 43 people from Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai have been diagnosed with the new H7N9 strain of bird flu. Eleven people have died, most of them in Shanghai, the World Health Organization said Friday. New cases are popping up daily. On Friday, Beijing News reported that people carrying the H7N9 virus may have entered Beijing in recent days from East China due to an increased flow of tourists, but no cases of bird flu have been reported there as of Friday. While this is a new strain of bird flu, WHO said there has been no evidence of human to human transmission. And even though the disease does not survive in cooked meats, many restaurants in Shanghai have outright banned selling poultry dishes in an attempt to curb fears by the public.
From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/04/12/chinas-bird-flu-a-problem-for-yum-brands-co-says/
By Steve Symington, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Shares of Yum! Brands tumbled nearly 3% in pre-market trading this morning after an SEC filing showed same-store sales fell around 13 percent for its China division, including a 16% drop in comparable sales for its KFC locations.
So what’s the culprit this time?
In the filing, the company stated:
Within the past week, publicity associated with Avian flu in China has had a significant, negative impact on KFC sales. Historically in these situations, we have educated consumers that properly cooked chicken is perfectly safe to eat, and we will continue to do so. We do not anticipate providing any further updates regarding China Division same-store sales until our scheduled first-quarter earnings release on April 23, 2013.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
This isn’t the first time …
To be sure, Yum! Brands is no stranger to doing damage control; just last month, the company issued an apology after pulling a variety of ground “beef” products from its three British outlets when they were found to contain horse meat. While the product posed no particular health risks, and Yum! stressed that no other locations were affected, many folks weren’t too keen on the idea of eating their beloved equine friends.
The food industry in China, however, has proven an even more difficult beast to tackle, and KFC sales are still reeling from the aftermath of buying tainted chicken from Chinese supplier New Hope Liuhe, which was dosing the birds with dangerously high levels of antibiotics and hormones.
Curiously enough, global fast-food giant McDonald’s was also using New Hope Liuhe as a chicken supplier at the time, and both Yum and Mickey D’s wasted no time stopping orders from the company when the investigation came to light. However, consumers remained queasy, even after Chinese municipal governments promised to introduce strict food safety laws to prevent any similar situation from recurring.
As a result, Yum’s massive presence in China caused it to take a much more significant hit than McDonald’s, when Chinese consumer confidence hit the fan. Remember, while Yum boasted nearly 6,000 locations in China by the end of 2012, McDonald’s was still hoping to grow its number of units to just 2,000 by the end of 2013.
This, too, shall pass
Even so, I tend to agree with Yum! Brands’ management when they insist the weakness in China will prove temporary. Perhaps that’s why its shares are trading up slightly this morning in spite of the pre-market weakness.
In the end, dealing with sketchy suppliers is, unfortunately, par for the course for any company in the food business; so remember, these concerns aren’t necessarily Yum! Brands’ fault. What’s more, the company knows a thing or two about weathering these sorts of storms, and is intelligently doing everything in its power to show its food is worth consumers’ money.
When this inevitably blows over, and considering Yum! Brands will almost triple its number of locations in China to around 14,000 eventually, it’s a safe bet that patient
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/11/yum-brands-is-feeling-fluish-in-china-buy-on-the-w/
By Matt Cantor Colonel Sanders has a bird flu problem. The H7N9 virus, which has killed nine people, has had a “significant, negative impact on KFC sales” in China, Yum Brands revealed in a regulatory filing yesterday. That’s no small problem for the company: China is responsible for more than half of Yum’s…
From: http://www.newser.com/story/166044/bird-flu-sickening-kfc-sales.html
Filed under: Microsoft, General Motors, Market News
KFC falls prey to the bird flu, and the PC may become a dinosaur.
Record highs continue to pile up on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials rallied 128 points yesterday and the S&P 500 jumped 19, both closing at record levels. The Nasdaq soared 39 points.
The bird flu outbreak in China is taking a big bite out KFC‘s sales there. They fell 16 percent last week, and the downtrend for the unit of Yum Brands (YUM) is continuing this month. More than half of Yum’s total sales come from China, where it has above 5,000 KFC outlets.
Worldwide shipments of personal computers tumbled by nearly 14 percent in the first quarter. Market researcher IDC says that’s the biggest drop since it began tracking the numbers in 1994. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) remains the number one PC maker, despite a 24 percent slide in the quarter. Dell’s (DELL) shipment’s fell by 11 percent, and Apple’s (AAPL) dropped more than seven percent. The decline signals consumer’s growing preference for smartphones and tablets. IDC also notes that Microsoft’s (MSFT) rollout of Windows 8 has done nothing to slow the decline in PC sales, and may have even made it worse.
Separately, the Wall Street Journal reports Microsoft is developing a new line of tablets, including a 7-inch version of the Surface. Goldman Sachs (GS) lowered its rating on Microsoft to neutral.
General Motors (GM) says it plans to invest more than $5 billion dollars in its ailing European brands, Opel and Vauxhall. The company’s European operations lost $1.8 billion last year, so it was either invest more to rebuild the brand, or retreat.
Costco (COST) reports a key measure of sales rose 4 percent last month. That’s a bit below expectations… a rare miss for the warehouse club retailer.
And shares of Integra LifeSciences (IART) are set to tumble after the company recalled some of its surgical products. It also issued a disappointing earnings forecast.
-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg
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From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/on/KFC-yum-brands-china-sales/
Filed under: Earnings, China, Food & Beverage, Restaurants, Stocks
By CANDICE CHOI
NEW YORK — Yum Brands says publicity surrounding a new strain of flu is hurting its KFC sales in China, putting added pressure on its efforts to recover from an earlier controversy over its chicken suppliers.
The Louisville, Ky.-based company said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that the new bird flu cases have had a “significant, negative impact” on KFC in the past week. The news comes at a sensitive time for the company, which has been working to rebuild trust with customers following a TV report that its suppliers were giving chickens unapproved levels of antibiotics.
That report already sent sales plummeting for Yum, which is the biggest Western fast-food operator in China with about 5,300 locations. For March, Yum said sales at restaurants in China open at least a year fell 13 percent, including a 16 percent drop at KFC and a 4 percent gain at Pizza Hut.
The decline follows a 20 percent drop for January and February.
The impact from the bird flu cases would be reflected in April’s sales results, which will be reported May 10.
“Historically in these situations, we have educated consumers that properly cooked chicken is perfectly safe to eat, and we will continue to do so,” Yum said of the bird flu scare in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
China announced the first known cases of a new strain of bird flu on March 31. The reports have sparked concerns among experts that the virus could mutate in a way that allows it to spread easily among people. Although there has been no sign of human-to-human transmission so far, the virus has infected 33 people and nine killed. On Wednesday, China‘s premier said that efforts to prevent and contain the virus were proceeding in an orderly manner.
Yum has been reporting monthly sales figures for China to keep investors updated on its recovery efforts in relation to the supplier scandal. As part of its push to regain trust with customers, it had announced the elimination of more than 1,000 small producers from its chicken supplier network and strengthened oversight over farmers.
CEO David Novak has noted that Yum has overcome major ordeals in the past, such as a bird flu scare in 2005 that dragged down sales by as much as 40 percent. And the company hasn’t adjusted its aggressive plans for expansion in the country.
Nevertheless, Yum has warned that that it expects its profit to fall in 2013 as a result of the chicken supplier scandal. That would snap an 11-year streak of double-digit growth.
Yum has more than 39,000 locations worldwide and China has been a critical engine of growth for the company because of the country’s rapidly growing ranks of middle-class consumers.
Shares of
From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/11/yum-china-sales-bird-flu/
By Eric Volkman, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Yum! Brands is continuing to be affected by health scares in Asia‘s largest nation. In an SEC filing, the company said its March same-store sales in its China division fell by roughly 13% in March. The decline was more pronounced at the company’s KFC chicken restaurants, which saw a drop of approximately 16%. The figure for Pizza Hut was 4%.
Yum! Brands attributed the declines to the latest outbreak of bird flu in the country. In the filing, the company said: “[P]ublicity associated with avian flu in China has had a significant, negative impact on KFC sales. Historically in these situations, we have educated consumers that properly cooked chicken is perfectly safe to eat, and we will continue to do so.”
The article Yum! Brands Posts Decline in March China Comps originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Eric Volkman and The Motley Fool have no position in Yum! Brands. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
University of Louisville Students Eat Free if KFC’s Hometown School Wins It All
If No. 1 Seed Cardinals Win National Title, UofL Students Will Enjoy Free Original Recipe® Boneless
LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– It’s no secret who Kentucky Fried Chicken is pulling for in this year’s national basketball tournament championship. With KFC headquarters located in Louisville, Ky., and the University of Louisville’s basketball team calling the KFC Yum! Center its home court, the brand famous for its fried chicken will be rooting for the Cardinals.
In fact, if the Cardinals bring home the big trophy after Monday night’s game, or if the UofL women’s team pulls another big upset in the championship game on Tuesday, KFC will feed University of Louisville students for free at a restaurant near campus on Monday, April 15, during select hours. The students will be among the first in the country to enjoy a free piece of KFC‘s new Original Recipe® Boneless chicken, a side item, a biscuit and a drink. After all, the celebration’s more fun if someone else picks up the tab.
“At KFC, we’ve been pulling hard for the Cards as they continue their march to the title,” said Jason Marker, Chief Marketing Officer for KFC Corporation. “And we think celebrating a championship with UofL students would be a great opportunity to celebrate the launch of our new Original Recipe Boneless at the same time. Everybody wins!”
Should either Louisville team win the championship, KFC will provide free Original Recipe Boneless meals to UofL students at a restaurant near campus on Monday, April 15. Complete details about the giveaway, including location and time, will be posted on www.kfc.com and www.facebook.com/kfc on Tuesday, April 9. See www.kfc.com/about/UofLterms.asp for additional information.
KFC is introducing Original Recipe Boneless on April 14 – boneless, skinless pieces of both white and dark meat chicken, hand breaded using the Original Recipe® made famous by Colonel Harland Sanders. It’s KFC for the way consumers live – and eat chicken – today.
No purchase necessary. Offer valid at a specific restaurant location in Louisville, KY on April 15, 2013 during select hours, location and hours to be announced on kfc.com on or about April 9, 2013. Limit one free piece of KFC‘s new Original Recipe® Boneless chicken, one individual side item, a …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
KFC Introduces Revolutionary New Product: Original Recipe® Boneless
New Offering Available April 14; Transforms Both the Menu and the Brand, While Responding to Consumer Demand
LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– When nearly four in five servings of fried chicken in the U.S. are served “off the bone” – strips, bites and filets – what’s the most famous fried chicken restaurant in the world to do? For KFC, the answer was simple: Get rid of the bones.
KFC is introducing Original Recipe Boneless on April 14 – boneless, skinless pieces of both white and dark meat chicken, hand breaded using the Original Recipe® made famous by Colonel Harland Sanders. (Photo: Business Wire)
KFC is introducing Original Recipe Boneless on April 14 – boneless, skinless pieces of both white and dark meat chicken, hand breaded using the Original Recipe® made famous by Colonel Harland Sanders. It’s KFC for the way consumers live – and eat chicken – today. It’s everything they love about Original Recipe chicken, but without the bones.
“Our customers have seen the beginning of a menu revolution at KFC over the past several months, as we’ve introduced new, contemporary products such as Original Recipe Bites, Chicken Littles®, Li’l Bucket™ Kids Meals and Dip’ems™,” said John Cywinski, President of KFC U.S. “Now we’re proud to introduce the flagship product on the KFC menu, Original Recipe Boneless. This is more than just a promotional product; it’s a new way of doing business at KFC. “
While the world-famous flavor of Original Recipe chicken continues to receive rave reviews around the world, consumers are increasingly seeking out boneless, skinless chicken. Only KFC can give them everything they want in one product.
“We’ve never seen such positive reaction to a test product,” Cywinski said. “Original Recipe Boneless is a real game-changer that transforms how customers think about KFC. Bottom line, it’s a big idea and we’re going to have some fun with it.”
Beginning on the 14th, customers can enjoy a two-piece Boneless Combo for just $4.99, including a piece of dark meat, a piece of white meat, an individual side item, a biscuit, and a medium drink. For family dinners, KFC is offering a 10-piece mixed bucket, which includes four pieces of Boneless …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Filed under: Shopping, Restaurants, Products, Spending, Food
By CANDICE CHOI
NEW YORK –In case Americans want to scarf down their fast-food even faster, KFC is stripping the bones out of its chicken.
The fast-food chain says it’s introducing deep-fried boneless chicken pieces on April 14 as an alternative to its traditional breast, thigh and drumstick pieces.
The new offering reflects the growing popularity of nuggets and strips that are easier to eat on the go, as well as Americans’ seemingly endless desire for more convenient foods. KFC says nearly four out of five servings of chicken sold in the U.S. are now boneless.
Based on customer trends, the chain says bones could eventually disappear from its menu.
“Younger people don’t tend to be fans of bones — they’ve grown up with nuggets,” said KFC spokesman Rick Maynard, referring to people in their 20s and 30s. Although KFC has more than 18,000 locations worldwide, the boneless chicken will only be offered in its 4,500 U.S. locations.
The new chicken, which is skinless and comes in white or dark meat, are whole muscle pieces fileted off the bone and are about twice the size of KFC‘s crispy strips. Customers will be able to order them for the chain’s meal deals, which include two pieces of chicken, a side, a biscuit and a drink for $4.99.
They also come in buckets, which include four pieces of boneless chicken and six pieces of breasts, thighs and drumsticks for $14.99. The boneless chicken option costs the same as the regular fried chicken. A piece of the boneless white meat has 200 calories and 8 grams of fat. A dark meat piece has 250 calories.
Even before the latest launch, KFC had already been shifting its menu to more boneless offerings. It rolled out smaller chicken “Bites” last year, as well as “Dip’ems,” which are strips of chicken with a variety of sauces.
The chain had also been offering the chicken filets used in its sandwiches as a stand-alone, handheld option. The chain says those will be phased out and that the new boneless pieces will be used in sandwiches.
KFC says it took two to three years to develop its version of boneless chicken, which performed strongly in test markets including Oklahoma City and Omaha last year.
Like McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Burger King Worldwide Inc. (BKW), chicken chain Chick-Fil-A offers nuggets, strips and sandwiches but doesn’t list any chicken pieces with bones on its menu. Although McDonald’s recently tested chicken wings at select locations, the world’s biggest hamburger chain has also focused on convenient options such as its new chicken McWraps and chicken McBites that come in portable cartons.
Howard Penney, a food industry analyst for Hedgeye Risk Management, noted that KFC has been struggling in the U.S. and that it has …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Filed under: Market News
Produced by Drew Trachtenberg
There’s a big new player in online movies, and Best Buy is expanding its connection with a major phone maker.
Time Warner (TWX) is jumping into the business of streaming online video, focusing on its vast library of classic movie and TV shows. A subscription will cost $10 a month – about two dollars more than Netflix (NFLX) charges. Still, Time Warner could present a challenge to Netflix, Amazon (AMZN) and others.
Rival entertainment giant Walt Disney (DIS) is closing down its video game-making unit, LucasArts. Disney paid $4 billion in December to buy the parent company, Lucasfilm.
Best Buy (BBY) is planning to set aside prime space in its stores dedicated to mobile phones, cameras and other products made by Samsung. Samsung, which will soon roll out its Galaxy S4 phone, does not have its own retail stores. Best Buy is also planning to sell the Apple (AAPL) iPad3 at a 30 percent discount.
Facebook (FB) is expected to unveil a deal with smartphone maker HTC that will feature the social network site as a possible homepage on the Android phones. The aim is to prompt users to spend more time on Facebook, which will result in higher ad revenue.
The chief product officer at Lululemon (LULU) is taking the fall for the see-through yoga pants fiasco that forced the company to issue a major recall: Sheree Waterson is leaving the company. As you may recall, the material became too sheer when the wearer bent over. The recall is expected to cost the company as much as $67 million dollars.
And the KFC unit of Yum Brands (YUM) will soon allow customers to pre-pay for food by using a mobile wallet when they call in an order. The program will start in the U.K. and soon expand to the U.S. McDonald’s (MCD) and Starbucks (SBUX) already offer similar programs.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Brazil Fast Food Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2012 Results
RIO DE JANEIRO–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Brazil Fast Food Corp. (OTC Markets: BOBS) (“Brazil Fast Food,” or the “the Company”), the second largest fast-food restaurant chain in Brazil with 1,031 points of sale, operating under (i) the Bob’s brand, (ii) the Yoggi brand, (iii) KFC and Pizza Hut São Paulo as franchisee of Yum! Brands, and (iv) Doggis as master franchisee of Gastronomia & Negocios S.A. (former Grupo de Empresas Doggis S.A.), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2012.
Fiscal Year 2012 Highlights
Fourth Quarter 2012 Highlights
“In 2012, we continue to see strong growth in our top line and a significant increase in profitability. This was primarily due to the expansion of our franchise base in key markets throughout Brazil, in line …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Not Just for Grown-ups Anymore: KFC Announces Availability of Li’l Bucket Kids Meals
Kid-Sized Menu Item Means Good Taste, Good Deeds, and Good Fun
LOUISVILLE, Ky.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– This March, KFC introduces a meal that is sized just for their Li’ttlest fans, KFC‘s Li’l Bucket Kids MealsTM. Packaged in a kid-friendly version of KFC‘s iconic bucket, the Li’l Bucket Kids Meals come complete with a Kentucky Grilled Chicken® drumstick, green beans, a GoGo squeeZTM applesauce on the go and a Capri Sun Roarin’ Water. (This meal has 210 calories, 4 grams of fat and 565 mg of sodium).
KFC introduces its new Li’l Bucket Kids Meals(TM) which come complete with a Kentucky Grilled Chicken(R) drumstick, green beans, a GoGo squeeZ(TM) applesauce on the go and a Capri Sun Roarin’ Water.
“We’ve found that our fans are looking for meals that appeal to moms and kids in terms of options and taste,” said Jason Marker, Chief Marketing Officer for KFC U.S. “By pairing our freshly-prepared chicken choices with delicious, convenient fruit and KFC‘s famous sides, we’ve created a meal with balanced and kid-friendly options.”
Li’l Bucket Kids Meals can be customized with other chicken choices, homestyle sides and drink options for just $3.99 plus tax (pricing and participation may vary). Diners have a choice between a Kentucky Grilled Drumstick, four Original Recipe® Bites, an Extra CrispyTM Tender or a Chicken Little. See www.kfc.com for meal choices and full nutritional information.
Li’l Bucket Kids Meals: The Thinking Mom’s Kids Meal
KFC believes meals are an important time for families to spend together. Through strategic partnerships with kid-friendly brands throughout 2013, KFC‘s iconic bucket will house activities designed specifically for KFC‘s Li’ttlest guests. KFC launches the kid-sized bucket with activities like word puzzles and riddles that promote interactive play among parents and children from GoGo squeeZ, the 100% fruit, all natural, no-spoon, no-mess way to enjoy fruit on-the-go.
“This is the ‘thinking mom’s’ kids meal – one that is equal parts balanced options and interactive fun for their kids,” said Marker. “Through our partnership with GoGo squeeZ, kids will find …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
By Steve Symington, The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Here at The Motley Fool, it’s no secret we advocate a long-term approach to investing. In fact, we often unapologetically state that any money you need in the next five years simply does not belong in the stock market.
I suppose, then, the title of this article should come as little surprise. Even so, an entire decade may seem more like an eternity to some in today’s world of up-to-the-minute news, high-frequency trading, and incessantly short attention spans.
While month-to-month fluctuations in the stock market can be admittedly unsettling, however, there’s no denying that stocks over 10-year periods become much more predictable and — for those of us willing to stick it out — profitable.
With this in mind, here are three great stocks I think any long-term investor could be happy to hold for the next decade:
Gearing up for smarter homes
First up, consider shares of network hardware specialist Netgear , which got absolutely clobbered last month after earnings missed estimates, largely thanks to continued weakness in Europe and a shift in profits to the Americas, which unexpectedly raised the company’s tax bill.
Even so, Netgear remains solidly profitable, and its long-term prospects have never been stronger. As I noted last month, management remains confident it can increase the company’s annual revenue 57% to $2 billion by the end of next year, with much of the near-term growth expected to come from new products resulting from Netgear’s recent acquisition of Sierra Wireless‘ Aircard business last year.
What’s more, Netgear’s product portfolio puts it in the perfect position to benefit from the rapidly growing market for “smart home” products, including networked multimedia players, home camera systems, A/C Ethernet devices, and Wi-Fi hardware. In fact, Netgear CEO Patrick Lo recently stated that he believes the smart home product market is poised to maintain a 28% compound annual growth rate and should represent a $25 billion industry by 2017 — a claim that makes plenty of sense considering less than one-third of the world’s 7 billion people had access to the Internet by the end of 2011.
Next, maybe Yum! Brands can satisfy your hunger for long-term growth. After all, as the owner of three iconic brands in Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC, Yum! has managed to grow its earnings per share by at least 13% per year for each of the past 11 years, largely thanks to its continuing mind-boggling pace of location expansion both in the U.S. and abroad. To be sure, even in the seemingly saturated U.S. market, the company built 100 new Pizza Huts and 15 Taco Bells in the fourth quarter alone.
China, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal for the company. In 2012, Yum! Brands managed to open an eye-popping 889 new restaurants in the region, with 369 of those locations finished in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, following a food scare from two KFC suppliers in China, the brand took a hit toward the end of last …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
