The company has been profit-forecasting on a monthly basis for about 40 years, trying to predict components such as sales, commodity prices and exchange rates.
Gross margins declined both sequentially and y-o-y, but it was about 150 basis points better than guidance as commodity costs declined and sales mix was better than anticipated.
The stronger store sales were offset by higher commodity prices and legal costs.
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Shareholder returns are at the mercy of commodity prices, drilling gambles, perpetual asset sales and acquisitions, and hedging talents on both commodities and foreign exchange desks.
Investing in product development around the world, including China, Ford faced higher commodity and structural costs, while it saw sales increase and it paid off its debt.
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Higher commodity costs hurt earnings excluding gains from asset sales.
The cost of food, cost and packaging (as a percentage of sales) rose significantly due to high commodity prices.
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Commodity costs have not affected the companies dramatically and international sales continue to deliver huge growth.
Whipsawing commodity prices and the economic downturn blunted that goal and sales have stalled for the last two years.
Higher commodity costs and costs to support product markets slightly offset sales in North America, the U.S. auto company said.
The company wants to be profitable again by 2009, but economic headwinds, including higher commodity costs and a housing slowdown that affects pickup truck sales, make it a slog.
However, the negative impact of higher commodity costs are positively offset by an increase in comparable restaurant sales (or comp sales).
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In the olden days of commodity wooden drivers and irons, the key to success was an affable sales staff.
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Sales are down significantly from a peak in 2008, reflecting commodity prices.
The company has trimmed its profit forecasts three times this fiscal because of slowing sales growth in Europe and the U.S., rising commodity costs, unfavorable foreign-exchange rates and price reductions.
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The company has trimmed its profit forecasts thrice this fiscal because of slowing sales growth in Europe and the U.S., rising commodity costs, unfavorable foreign-exchange rates and price reductions, fueling investor pessimism.
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The company said that during the past quarter, its sales out look and price realization has improved, but higher costs, primarily from commodity-related materials, have limited earnings.
Pacific Crest Securities analyst Brent Bracelin is bullish on Dell's continued market share and sales growth, particularly in enterprise computing, since it is so focused on delivering commodity technology to the masses.
Marking the 23 consecutive quarter of sales growth, the company announced that higher volumes and net pricing more than offset rising commodity prices.
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They can raise prices only so much without decreasing sales, and many have already done so because of higher operating costs, such as commodity and gas prices and health-care premiums.
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The consumer foods giant saw a strong start to fiscal 2013 last quarter with strong organic sales growth complemented by a recovery in gross margins in spite of a persistent rise in commodity costs.
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But to maximize profitability under this data sales model, Facebook wants to drive the cost of data center infrastructure to some point below that of commodity boxes servers and storage arrays for example.
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