Today's Winners and Losers: Tyson Foods

Shares of Tyson Foods(TSN Quote) were among the NYSE's losers Monday, falling 9% after the meat and chicken processor posted disappointing first-quarter earnings and warned that 2006 earnings will be well below expectations.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the company earned $39 million, or 11 cents a share, including one-time gains of $20 million and a $3 million charge related to the closing of a prepared foods plant. In all, the one-time items added 3 cents a share to earnings. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call expected earnings of 16 cents a share. During the year-earlier quarter, the company earned $48 million, or 14 cents a share. Tyson posted flat sales of $6.45 billion, slightly above analysts' projection of $6.43 billion.

Looking ahead, Tyson sees a loss during the second quarter. "Recent declines in international demand for chicken coupled with greater than expected domestic supply will dramatically impact the projected performance of our chicken segment," the company said. "Lower than projected cattle supplies, along with unanticipated interruptions in export market access, will slow the recovery that we expected for beef later in the year." Analysts had projected a profit of 23 cents for the second quarter.

For all of fiscal 2006, the company now sees earnings of 50 cents to 80 cents a share, below its previous guidance of 95 cents to $1.25 a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of $1.07 a share. Tyson shares recently were trading down $1.34 to $14.03.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services(JBHT Quote) rose 4% after the trucking company posted fourth-quarter results that topped forecasts. The company earned $65.3 million, or 41 cents a share, on sales of $858.4 million. Analysts expected earnings of 36 cents a share and sales of $856.4 million. A year earlier, the company earned $19.8 million, or 12 cents a share, on sales of $770.8 million. The year-earlier earnings were hurt by a $33.6 million reserve for a contingent tax liability, slicing 20 cents a share from earnings. The tax liability relates to a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over disallowed tax benefits associated with certain sale-leaseback transactions, the company said. The matter is still in dispute. J.B. Hunt shares were up 92 cents to $23.54.