Each week I read dozens of transcripts from earnings calls and presentations as part of my investment process. Below are some of the most important quotes about the economy and industry trends from the transcripts that I read this week. Full notes can be found here.
Portfolio strategy to minimize volatility
“we do not expect to follow the full peaks and troughs of the broader industry pricing trends. Rather, our portfolio strategy means that we will benefit from strong markets and at the same time be buffered from some of the impacts of lower pricing, given our lower overall volatility. The net benefit is we believe that we will have a better margin structure relative to our peers over an extended period of time.’
Chicken is the best value in protein right now
“chicken still represents the best value in protein. Although we’ve seen some movement in pork prices, we don’t see that as an imminent threat to chicken demand.”
Export off east coast, but others shipping through there too
“So far, we’ve not been affected by the West Coast slowdown as most of our exports are shipped off the East Coast. One of the things that we’re keeping our eye on, though, is as other producers and exporters divert product to the East Coast ports, that’s causing more product to roll through East Coast ports and thereby creating competition for shipments off the East Coast. So it’s certainly in our interest to have that issue resolved as soon as we can so that we could keep all product flowing for the export market.’