Dean Foods is spinning off its WhiteWave Foods business, which produces plant-based foods and beverages, coffee creamers and beverages including Silk soy milk and Horizon organic milk. Bernstein Research analyst Alexia Howard believes the spinoff paves the way for an acquisition. She speculates WhiteWave, based in Broomfield, Colo., would be an attractive target for General Mills. Howard wrote that WhiteWave's concentrated brand portfolio "is well-aligned with the emerging consumer interest in organic dairy products and plant-based beverages. Such credentials could make it an attractive target for General Mills."
No worries for weak wings
Buffalo Wild Wings announced last week that its first-quarter profits dropped 11 percent, due in part to a spike in wholesale chicken wing prices. According to Thomson Reuters, analysts were expecting the company to report earnings of 98 cents per share but delivered just 87 cents. But RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller didn't sound too concerned about the miss. He told the Star Tribune, "They did miss the estimate by a wide margin, but their business is picking up in April."
Patrick Kennedy
