What happened
Shares of B&G Foods (BGS +2.07%) jumped on Wednesday even though there wasn't any company-specific news. However, many food stocks were trending higher today in the wake of the cyberattack on the world's largest meat processor, JBS. As of 3 p.m. EDT, B&G Foods stock was up 11%.
So what
For reference, it's likely other stocks like Beyond Meat are also up today because of the JBS situation. According to the Associated Press, several of JBS's facilities in North America and Australia went down because of hackers. JBS is already recovering and expects to have some operations back today. However, even slight blips in the food supply chain can cause disruptions that lead to price fluctuations at the grocery store.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Companies that are still operating at full strength like Beyond Meat and B&G Foods could be short-term beneficiaries of this situation. That said, it's hard to imagine any enduring gains for food stocks resulting from the cyberattack on JBS. Therefore, B&G Foods shareholders would be better off to ignore today's pop and instead focus on the long-term business fundamentals.
B&G Foods' management is guiding for up to a 6.7% year-over-year increase to full-year 2021 sales. However, this might not include much organic growth -- its recent acquisition of the Crisco brand will contribute to sales growth this year. That said, there's still good reason to be optimistic about the company's outlook. Its business was good in 2020 because the COVID-19 pandemic had more people eating at home. But guidance implies the company will retain a lot of those pandemic sales. That's good news going forward.
