Campbell Soup's Stock Drops After Profit, Sales Warning

Shares of Campbell Soup Co. slumped 5.4% in after-hours trade Thursday, after the soup and simple meals company lowered its fiscal 2015 profit and sales outlook, based on expectations that fiscal second-quarter results will be weaker than anticipated, and to reflect the negative effect of currency moves. The company now expects adjusted full-year earnings per share in the range of $2.32 to $2.38, and sales to be down 1% or up 1% from last year, compared with its previous projections of $2.45 to $2.50 and zero to 2%, respectively. The company said excluding the impact of currency translation, its sales outlook would be unchanged. The stock has gained 8.8% over the past three months through Thursday's close, outperforming the S&P 500's 2.5% advance.