We are constantly bombarded by bad news these days. It's no wonder that a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press and GfK Roper Public Affairs &...
We are constantly bombarded by bad news these days. It's no wonder that a recent poll conducted by the Associated Press and GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media revealed that half of the people surveyed are now worried about becoming unemployed. This rolling research data normally has about only a quarter of those polled as worried about losing their jobs.
Not surprising in this survey research was that 47% of respondents think the $700-billion bailout of Wall Street had no impact on the economy and that a third of those polled think that the bailout actually made things worse. Clearly,
people do not have a favorable view of Wall Street these days.
So, along with investor sentiment, "regular people" sentiment has cratered. People are worried about their jobs and they are worried about their retirement. My retired parents have lost a lot of their retirement assets (on paper) that were invested in the stock market along with all their friends. They worry about whether they'll have enough resources to maintain their standard of living down the road. They're hunkering down and cutting expenses. Their shopping behavior has changed and their investing behavior has changed. They won't be doing things like they used to ever again.
Recently, I came across a company that's doing great in this market. It called American Italian Pasta Company (NASDAQ/AIPC) and business is booming because people are cutting their expenses -- they still have to eat, but not as fancy as before.
AIPC is the largest producer of dry pasta in North America and is making money hand over fist selling private label branded pasta in this slow economy. With plants in Columbia, South Carolina, Tolleson, Arizona, and Verolanuova, Italy, the company has a two-pronged business strategy. It sells its own branded pasta to the largest food retailers and food service companies in the world, and it manufactures a variety of pasta products under private labels, which are resold by stores. Because people are paring down their expenses, more are choosing to purchase a grocery store's own branded products because they are cheaper.
As evidence of this successful business strategy, AIPC's revenues for the 14 weeks ended January 2, 2009, grew 53%, to just over one hundred and seventy-one million dollars. Net income in its latest quarter grew substantially to twenty-six million dollars, or $1.23 per diluted share, as compared to net income of $1.4 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, in the 13-week first quarter of fiscal 2008.
Just like in my family, people are reining in their expenses. People are cutting back on restaurant expenditures and being choosier at the grocery store. In hindsight, it only makes sense that a company like AIPC is doing great right now. Pull up a one-year chart on the stock and you'll see that it's gone from about $5.00 per share to its current level of over $30.00. That's an amazing accomplishment in a bear market.
Profit Confidential
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