Hershey Third-quarter Earnings Beat Estimates

Hershey Co. shares were indicated higher in Friday premarket trading after the chocolate company reported third-quarter earnings that beat estimates. Net income totaled $227.4 million, or $1.06 per share, up from $257.2 million, or $1.17 per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.29, beating the $1.18 FactSet consensus. Revenue totaled $2.0 billion, up from $1.96 billion last year and beating the $1.99 billion FactSet estimate. Hershey expects full-year 2016 revenue to rise 1%, while the FactSet consensus indicates a 3.7% increase, and adjusted earnings per share in the range of $4.28 to $4.32, up from the previous estimate of $4.24 to $4.28. Hershey shares are up 7% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.4% for the same period.