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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.barrons.com/articles/general-mills-stock-rises-on-upbeat-earnings-news-51545239417\nGeneral Mills Stock Rallies as Investors Cheer Earnings\nTeresa Rivas\nPhotograph by Carlos\nGeneral Mills (ticker: GIS) stock is popping on Wednesday, helped by the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings report.\nWhere we were: General Mills could use the help, with the stock down more than 34% year to date.\nWhere we’re headed: A rosier outlook may help the shares rally off their recent lows.\nStaples stocks have stumbled this year, with the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (ticker: XLP) down more than 7% in 2018. General Mills has had it worse than most. Despite calls for a turnaround in the downdraft for the staples group, as well as General Mills itself (admittedly, from Barron’s), the shares have continued to struggle with downbeat earnings results and lackluster growth. Consumers are shifting away from packaged food and big brands to healthier and more local options.\nAs we saw last quarter, plenty of staples stocks took a beating when executives made it clear that there an end to stagnating sales wasn’t in sight. Exceptions to the trend were rewarded.\nGeneral Mills joined the club on Wednesday morning. The company said it earned 85 cents a share, with revenue of $4.41 billion, while analysts were expecting EPS of 81 cents and revenue of $4.51 billion. Gross margin decreased 0.2 percentage point.\nStill, the company reaffirmed its forecast for the full year. General Mills expects EPS to fall as much as 3%, indicating an annual profit of $3.02 to $3.11 a share, in line with analysts’ estimates. Yet it sees top-line growth of between 9% and 10%, for revenue of $17.16 billion to $17.31 billion. That would put it ahead of the $17.06 billion consensus estimate.\nPerhaps it’s no surprise that investors are cheering the results.\nEdward Jones’s Brittany Weissman reiterated a Hold rating on the stock, but writes that the results were “better than feared,” and thus the positive reaction is warranted. Moreover, she writes that market share continues to show signs of improvement, and that General Mills’ effort to integrate Blue Buffalo Pet Products with its own operations remains on track.\nGeneral Mills bought the pet-food company in April. It plans to double distribution next quarter, a boost for revenues.\n“The operating environment remains challenging due to a dynamic retail environment, increased competition, and higher input costs,” Weissman said. “We believe General Mills continues to make progress improving results, and we believe the recent Blue Buffalo acquisition has the potential to add to growth. At the current price, we believe shares fairly reflect the potential for improved growth along with the current challenges in the business.”\nSusquehanna’s Pablo Zuanic was more upbeat, reiterating a Positive rating and $48 price target on General Mills. He cited improving trends in core U.S. retail sales, as well as stabilizing and expanding gross margins, for his bullish stance.\nLikewise, Wells Fargo’s John Baumgartner reiterated an Outperform rating on General Mills, saying he was surprised by the strength in the quarter, which was “of fairly sound quality.”\nGeneral Mills was up 6.1% to $38.92 in recent trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.1% higher.\nMake the Connection\nKellogg (K) wasn’t as lucky with its earnings report.\nPicking staples stocks isn’t easy in a trade war.\nWrite to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com"