TOP STORIES 



  United Natural Foods Beats 4Q Profit Expectations as Consumers Cook at Home 


  United Natural Foods Inc. reported a stronger profit for its latest quarter and beat analysts' expectation for sales, a performance that reflects heightened consumer demand for food to cook at home during the Covid-19 pandemic. 


  The wholesaler of food and other merchandise to grocers such as Amazon.com Inc.'s Whole Foods Market, Wegmans and Kroger Co. locations on Monday said it earned a profit of $52.4 million, or 89 cents a share, for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Aug. 1, up from $19.2 million, or 36 cents a share, for the same period last year. 


  ALDI 2019 Profit Surged on Higher Revenue, Better Margins; Deploys GBP1.3 Bln to Enhance UK Chain 


  ALDI Germany reported Monday a surge in pretax profit for 2019 on higher sales and better margins, and said it will invest 1.30 billion pounds ($1.66 billion) over the next two years to upgrade its U.K. business. 


  The German grocer made a pretax profit of GBP271.5 million for the year, a 49% increase over the previous year. 


  Revenue rose to GBP12.28 billion from GBP11.33 billion in 2018. 


  STORIES OF INTEREST 


  Aldi Is Less Disruptive But Retains Great Deal of Competitiveness -- Market Talk 


  1004 GMT - German grocer Aldi is losing its ability to disrupt the U.K. market but remains a strong force in the British grocer scene, Shore Capital says. The domestic pricing environment is competitive, and is likely to remain so as the U.K. stays in economic recession, the investment group says. "That said, we look at the broader industry model and see scope for earnings to advance year-on-year, which alongside strong free cash flow generation, augurs well for shareholders," Shore adds. (matteo.castia@dowjones.com) 


  Here's Why McDonald's, Wendy's and Starbucks Stand Out in Fast Food -- Barrons.com 


  September has been a rocky month for the stock market, and it has also been choppy for fast-food restaurants, notes Stifel. Once again, however, McDonald's stands out from the pack, thanks to menu innovation, it says. 


  McDonald's stock (ticker: MCD) is up more than 11% in 2020, easily outpacing the S&P 500 and many of its quick-service peers. The restaurant's store traffic has been particularly strong in September thanks to its limited-time Travis Scott meal deal, which highlights the rapper's favorite order. Stifel's Chris O'Cull thinks the collaboration may have allowed McDonald's to grab market share. 


  FUTURES MARKETS 


  Livestock Futures Post Mixed Close -- Market Talk 


  15:26 ET - Livestock futures trading on the CME were a mixed bag - with live cattle futures finishing up 0.2% to $1.1165 per pound and lean hog futures finishing down 0.6% at 64.025 cents per pound. The cattle on feed report issued by the USDA after the market's close Friday showed that while there's still an onerous cattle surplus due to Covid-19, it has been eaten into as the US economy attempts to regain some normalcy. The inventory of cattle on feed for over 150 days is up 20.5% from last year as of Sept. 1, but that's an improvement from it being 42% back in July. Producers have managed to work down the front end supply but work still remains," says Steiner Consulting Group. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


   CASH MARKETS 

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 28 
 
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Sep 28       +$ 55.60            +$ 71.92 
Sep 25       +$ 50.61            +$ 68.20 
Sep 24       +$ 55.26            +$ 69.75 
 
* 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  102.4 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  108.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 


  Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday fell $1.62 per hundred pounds, to $217.72, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 56 cents per hundred pounds, to $206.42. The total load count was 148. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.73, to $92.52 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.