TOP STORIES

Chipotle Beats on Earnings as Digital Sales Surge -- Market Talk

16:30 ET - Chipotle Mexican Grill beats on earnings as online sales help the burrito chain overcome the pandemic's drag last year. Chipotle reports 1Q EPS of $4.45, compared with EPS of $2.70 during the same period last year. Adjusted EPS for one-time items such as restructuring costs and closures related to the pandemic come in at $5.36--exceeding expectations. Sales of $1.7B at the Newport Beach, Calif.-based company were slightly below expectations. The chain benefited from online orders during the pandemic, and half of its sales in the period ending in March came from digital transactions. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

Tyson Foods Joins Cattle Traceability Program -- Market Talk

09:42 ET - Tyson Foods's beef and pork subsidiary says it is supporting a cattle disease traceability program called U.S. CattleTrace. U.S. CattleTrace uses ear tags containing ultra-high frequency technologies to collect data, including an individual animal identification number, a GPS location, and date and time. This is used to track animals in a disease outbreak. "Animal health and disease traceability are critical issues for the meat industry and we're hopeful our involvement will help advance industry efforts to implement this program across the country," says Shane Miller, group president, Tyson Fresh Meats. "We believe CattleTrace can help to reduce the risk that animal disease poses to the U.S. cattle supply, while also protecting our industry's access to important export markets, which can quickly be compromised in the event of an animal health issue." (michael.dabaie@wsj.com)

Old Country Buffet Parent Preps Speedy Bankruptcy-Sale Process

The owners of Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffet and several other all-you-can eat restaurant chains are planning a quick bankruptcy sale for their assets and some of their leases, with hopes to sell them off by the summer.

San Antonio-based Fresh Acquisitions LLC and Buffets LLC along with several affiliates filed for chapter 11 protection Tuesday, marking the fourth trip through bankruptcy since 2008 for some of the sister chains. Together, the companies owe about $13.5 million in secured debt and more than $5.3 million in unsecured liabilities, according to court papers.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Danone's Portfolio Maintains Some Uncertainies Going Forward -- Market Talk

0848 GMT - Danone's portfolio still presents some areas of concern that may impact its ability to relaunch growth sustainably, UBS says. Analysts at the bank point to the French food company's essential dairy and plant-based sales growth prospects in North America, the effect of lower birth rates in Western Europe on its early life nutrition business, and the pace of recovery for its waters division. "This relatively high degree of operational opacity is further exacerbated by the fact that the company will soon be appointing a new, externally recruited, CEO who is likely to open a new phase of transition for the group," UBS says. (giulia.petroni@wsj.com)

Carrefour 1Q Sales Rose; To Launch Buyback of Up to EUR500 Mln

Carrefour SA said Wednesday that sales in its first quarter rose and that it is launching a share buyback.

The French grocer said group revenue came to 18.58 billion euros ($22.37 billion) post-IAS 29, or EUR18.56 billion before, up 4.2% on a like-for-like basis. Like-for-like sales grew 3.5% in France and 16% in Latin America, but fell in Europe and Asia.

FUTURES MARKETS

Livestock Futures Finish Lower -- Market Talk

1529 ET - Livestock futures finished lower on the CME, with the most-active live cattle contract ending down 1.6% to $1.1725 per pound and the lean hog contract down 1.7% to $1.04525 per pound. For cattle, today's down day makes it 9 out of the past 10 trading sessions that futures have fallen -- shedding 6.6% in that time period. Today's trading was largely predicated on Friday's Cattle on Feed report, which is expected to show high cattle placements. "Ahead of the report, the average trade estimate calls for a March placement rate at 134% of last year, a marketing rate of 101%, and an April 1 feedlot inventory of 106%," says AgResource. "If confirmed, the placement total will be the largest in 5 years." (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Apr 21 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Apr 21       +$  0.52            +$ 99.81 
 
Apr 20       +$  6.17            +$102.73 
 
Apr 19       +$  7.80            +$100.48 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice  112.9 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  114.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose $2.20 per hundred pounds, to $280.46, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.41 per hundred pounds, to $271.88. The total load count was 114. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.36, to $112.16 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-21-21 1737ET