1 Consumer Stock to Own for Decades and 2 to Keep Off Your Radar
Consumer staples stocks are solid insurance policies in frothy markets ripe for corrections. Surprisingly, the sector hasn't played its shielding role over the past six months as it tumbled 14.1%. This drop was much worse than the S&P 500's 1.8% decline.
The elite companies can churn out earnings growth under any circumstance, however, and our mission at StockStory is to help you find them. On that note, here is one consumer stock boasting a durable advantage and two that may face trouble.
Market Cap: $16.88 billion
Best known for its SPAM brand, Hormel (NYSE:HRL) is a packaged foods company with products that span meat, poultry, shelf-stable foods, and spreads.
Why Do We Think Twice About HRL?
Shrinking unit sales over the past two years show it's struggled to move its products and had to rely on price increases
Easily substituted products (and therefore stiff competition) result in an inferior gross margin of 16.7% that must be offset through higher volumes
Sales were less profitable over the last three years as its earnings per share fell by 6.5% annually, worse than its revenue declines
Hormel Foods's stock price of $30.70 implies a valuation ratio of 17.7x forward P/E. Check out our free in-depth research report to learn more about why HRL doesn't pass our bar.
Market Cap: $1.59 billion
Translating to "of the mountain" in Spanish, Fresh Del Monte (NYSE:FDP) is a leader in providing high-quality, sustainably grown fresh fruits and vegetables.
Why Do We Steer Clear of FDP?
Sales were flat over the last three years, indicating it's failed to expand its business
Gross margin of 8.2% is an output of its commoditized products
Low returns on capital reflect management's struggle to allocate funds effectively
Fresh Del Monte Produce is trading at $33.13 per share, or 8.2x forward EV-to-EBITDA. Dive into our free research report to see why there are better opportunities than FDP.
Market Cap: $7.89 billion
Spun out of Post Holdings in 2019, Bellring Brands (NYSE:BRBR) offers protein shakes, nutrition bars, and other products under the PowerBar, Premier Protein, and Dymatize brands.
Why Are We Bullish on BRBR?
Stellar 20.8% growth in unit sales over the past two years demonstrates the high demand for its products
Earnings growth has trumped its peers over the last three years as its EPS has compounded at 28% annually
ROIC punches in at 48.9%, illustrating management's expertise in identifying profitable investments
At $62.15 per share, BellRing Brands trades at 26.1x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our in-depth research report, it's free.
Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election sent major indices to all-time highs, but stocks have retraced as investors debate the health of the economy and the potential impact of tariffs.
While this leaves much uncertainty around 2025, a few companies are poised for long-term gains regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate, like our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Upturn
30 minutes ago
- Business Upturn
Bitcoin rebounds above $104,700 after initial dip on Trump-Musk fallout
Bitcoin (BTC) staged a smart recovery on Friday, climbing back above the $104,700 mark after an early dip sparked by jitters in the market following the reported fallout between former US President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk. As per latest data, Bitcoin was trading at $104,731.41, up 2.18% over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency saw a volatile session, hitting an intraday low of $102,405.29 before bouncing back sharply to test a high of $105,333.00. The market had initially reacted negatively to reports of strained relations between Trump and Musk, which had raised concerns about potential policy shifts or regulatory overhang on digital assets in the US. The development triggered a broad risk-off sentiment across major cryptocurrencies during early trade. However, BTC's resilience was on display as buyers stepped in at lower levels, fueling a strong rebound. The 24-hour trading volume stood robust at 14,435.76 BTC, with $1.5 billion USDT turnover, indicating healthy participation on the bounce. Crypto market analysts noted that despite short-term headlines, underlying bullish momentum in BTC remains intact amid improving institutional interest and optimism around the next leg of mainstream adoption. Traders will be watching closely for further developments on the Trump-Musk front, along with upcoming macroeconomic cues, which could influence BTC's near-term trajectory. Note: $BTC price at the time of writing this article. News desk at
News24
an hour ago
- News24
Trump says Musk has 'lost his mind' as feud fallout mounts
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Elon Musk had "lost his mind" but insisted he wanted to move on from the fiery split with his billionaire former ally. The blistering public break-up between the world's richest person and the world's most powerful is fraught with political and economic risks all round. Trump had scrapped the idea of a call with Musk and was even thinking of ditching the red Tesla he bought at the height of their bromance, White House officials told AFP. "Honestly I've been so busy working on China, working on Russia, working on Iran... I'm not thinking about Elon Musk, I just wish him well," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to his New Jersey golf club late Friday. Earlier, Trump told US broadcasters that he now wanted to focus instead on passing his "big, beautiful" mega-bill before Congress - Musk's harsh criticism of which had sparked their break-up. But the 78-year-old Republican could not stop himself from taking aim at his South African-born friend-turned-enemy. "You mean the man who has lost his mind?" Trump said in a call with ABC when asked about Musk, adding that he was "not particularly" interested in talking to the tycoon. Trump later told Fox News that Musk had "lost it." Just a week ago Trump gave Musk a glowing send-off as he left his cost-cutting role at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after four months working there. 'Very disappointed' While there had been reports of tensions, the sheer speed at which their relationship imploded stunned Washington. After Musk called Trump's spending bill an "abomination" on Tuesday, Trump hit back in an Oval Office diatribe on Thursday in which he said he was "very disappointed" by the entrepreneur. Trump's spending bill faces a difficult path through Congress as it will raise the US deficit, while critics say it will cut health care for millions of the poorest Americans. The row then went nuclear, with Musk slinging insults at Trump and accusing him without evidence of being in government files on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump hit back with the power of the US government behind him, saying he could cancel the Space X boss's multi-billion-dollar rocket and satellite contracts. Trump struck a milder tone late Friday when asked how seriously he is considering cutting Musk's contracts. "It's a lot of money, it's a lot of subsidy, so we'll take a look - only if it's fair. Only if it's to be fair for him and the country," he said. Musk apparently also tried to de-escalate social media hostilities. The right-wing tech baron rowed back on a threat to scrap his company's Dragon spacecraft - vital for ferrying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. And on Friday the usually garrulous poster kept a low social media profile on his X social network. But the White House denied reports that they would talk. "The president does not intend to speak to Musk today," a senior White House official told AFP. A second official said Musk had requested a call. Tesla giveaway? Tesla stocks tanked more than 14% on Thursday amid the row, losing some $100 billion of the company's market value, but recovering partly Friday. Trump is now considering either selling or giving away the cherry red Tesla S that he announced he had bought from Musk's firm in March. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday. "He's thinking about it, yes," a senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give it away. Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after viral protests against Musk's DOGE role. But while Trump appeared to hold many of the cards, Musk also has some to play. His wealth allowed him to be the biggest donor to Trump's 2024 campaign, to the tune of nearly $300 million. Any further support for the 2026 midterm election now appears in doubt - while Musk could also use his money to undermine Trump's support on the right.
CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Trump says Xi agreed to restart flow of crucial minerals, but analysts say China won't give up its ‘rare earth card'
US President Donald Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping has agreed to restart the flow of crucial rare earth materials, after announcing a new round of US-China trade talks will be held in London on Monday. Trump made the comments a day after holding his long-awaited phone call with Xi, during which the two leaders agreed to resume negotiations stalled over mutual accusations of violating the truce reached in Geneva last month. For Washington, a major sticking point has been China's export restrictions on rare earth minerals and magnets, which are essential for everything from cars to fighter jets, and critical to American industries and defense. In the weeks since the fragile detente, Washington has accused Beijing of slow-walking approvals for rare earth exports and reneging on its promise made in Geneva, with Trump expressing increasing urgency to speak to his Chinese counterpart to iron things out. After a 90-minute call on Thursday, Trump said he and Xi had 'straightened out' some points related to rare earth magnets, describing it as 'very complex stuff.' But he did not specify what exactly had been agreed upon. Asked Friday if Xi had agreed to restart the flow of rare earth minerals and magnets, Trump told reporters abroad Air Force One: 'Yes, he did.' He did not further elaborate on how fast that would happen, or the volume of the materials that would be released. The Chinese readout of the call did not mention rare earths. Instead, it quoted Xi as saying that China had 'seriously and earnestly' complied with the trade truce agreement. Asked about it at the Chinese foreign ministry's daily briefing on Friday, a spokesperson sidestepped the question, saying it was a matter for other agencies to address. China, which controls 90% of the global processing of rare earths, imposed export restrictions on some minerals and magnets on April 4 at the height of the tariff war, after Trump slapped 'reciprocal' levies on Chinese goods. The new system does not ban exports outright, but requires government approval for each shipment. Chinese scholars who advise the government suggested on Thursday that Beijing is not ready to give up the powerful leverage bestowed by its dominance on the rare earth supply chain – and may seek to use it to get Washington to ease its own export controls aimed at blocking China's access to advanced US semiconductors and technologies. While American businesses are likely to see more shipments approved in the next couple of weeks, the export licensing regime is here to stay, said Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai. He noted that, according to official rules set by China's Commerce Ministry, applications for export licenses can take up to 45 working days to be approved. 'In principle, I can agree to export to you, but I can speed things up or slow them down. In reality, on a technical level, it also depends on the overall bilateral trade and economic atmosphere,' he said. 'If the bilateral relationship is good, then I'll go a bit faster; if not, I'll slow down. But you can't say I'm violating the agreement – I'm still following the standard procedures.' Some Chinese suppliers of US companies have recently received six-month export licenses, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said Friday, but it noted that uncertainty remains amid a large backlog of license applications. Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said the importance Trump attaches to rare earths shows how effective China's 'rare earth card' is. 'I hadn't realized just how important this rare earth card was before. Now the US side is clearly anxious and eager to resolve this issue,' he said in a video on social media on Thursday. 'But of course, we'll link this issue to others – the US is restricting China on chips and jet engines, then China certainly has every reason to make use of this card.' 'As for whether China will change its rare earth export control policy, that probably still needs to be negotiated in more detail' Jin added. Some Chinese scholars have expressed hope that US technology restrictions on China may now be up for negotiation, after Trump announced that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick – whose department overseas US export controls – will join Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the next round of trade talks. 'The issue of US export controls may no longer be an area that is completely non-negotiable in the future,' Cui Fan, an economics professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and advisor to the Chinese Commerce Ministry, wrote in a social media post. Beijing has insisted that its export controls are in line with international practices, non-discriminatory and not targeted at any specific country. Hours before the two leaders jumped on the phone on Thursday, a spokesperson for China's commerce ministry reiterated that stance at a regular news conference, citing the 'clear dual-use attributes' of rare earth materials. Dual-use items refer to those with both civilian and military applications. 'The Chinese government reviews export license applications for dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations, and for applications that meet the requirements, China will grant approval to promote and facilitate compliant trade,' spokesperson He Yongqian said. The strict licensing system has significantly disrupted the global supplies of these materials and triggered production turmoil across industries in America and Europe, raising alarms among officials and businesses alike. A survey of member companies conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China late week found that, among those affected by rare earth export controls, 75% say their stock would run out within three months. CNN's Kit Maher contributed to reporting.
