Food & Beverage

Pizza stocks, gas + cheese prices reverse price trends in topsy-turvy trading week

Pizza share prices and commodities trading last week were in a role-reversal kind of mood, with some of the winning brands of recent weeks falling in value, and commodities prices that had been on downward trends increasing for the first time in a while.

Price trend reversal was the order of the week last week in pizza stock and commodities trading. (Photo: iStock)

May 4, 2020 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

Last week, was a kind of topsy-turvy one for pizza stocks and commodities trading, with the price trends of recent weeks for everything from gas and cheese to major pizza delivery companies, reversing directions. 

For instance, after weeks of growing stock values, pizza powerhouse, Domino's Pizza Inc., dipped in price last week. Not only that, two of its competitors prices also fell last week. At Domino's, the brand's share price fell $9.99 over the week's trading to settle in at $357.30 Friday at the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, also on the NYSE, Pizza Hut parent company, Yum Brands Inc., dropped $2.08 in value over the week to close at $83.81 Friday. 

Then, on the Nasdaq, Louisville, Kentucky-based, Papa John's International Inc., suffered only slightly at the hands of investors last week when that stock lost 43 cents in value over the trading week to end up Friday at the close at $71.57. In fact, the only publicly traded brand monitored by this site to make gains on the week was Pizza Inn and Pie Five parent, Rave Restaurant Group, Inc., which countered its largely downward trend of late to gain 12 cents in value week over week, ending Friday at 82 cents at the close. 

Cheese

Cheese prices trended upward last week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where barrels averaged 12 cents higher at $1.14, while blocks averaged a hefty 17 cents higher at $1.20, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Barrels closed Friday at $1.19, while 40-pound blocks end up at $1.21 at the trading week's close.

Milk supplies for cheese production remain ample, with some cheesemakers reporting a more consistent rate of production, the U.S.D.A. said, while some recently disrupted manufacturing in plants has started to resume. 

Cheese sales continue to be fairly robust on the retail side, while food service demand -- which is showing more signs of life -- still pales in comparison to previous years. Even with many restaurants nationwide offering takeout and delivery options due to the pandemic, the U.S.D.A. said orders are still substantially lighter. 

Wheat

Compared to the previous week, cash bids for wheat last week were 6 1/2 to 21 cents lower. Kansas City U.S. No. 1 hard red winter, ordinary protein rail bid was 6 ½ cents lower, from $5.59-$5.69 per bushel. Kansas City U.S. No. 2 soft red winter rail bid was not quoted.  

St. Louis truck U.S. No. 2 soft red winter terminal bid was 21 cents lower at $5.49 per bushel. Minneapolis and Duluth U.S. No. 1 dark northern spring, 14 to 14.5% protein rail, was not quoted, but Portland U.S. soft white wheat rail was 7 to 10 cents lower, at $6.05 per bushel.

Auto fuel

After 10 weeks of declining gas prices due to pandemic-influenced lower demand and cheap crude prices, gas prices last week rose slightly for the first time. In fact, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week that that growing national domestic gas demand pushed the barrels-per-day average up from 5.31 million barrels a day  to 5.86 million b/d week over week. That is still, however, 3.37 million b/d lower than last year's rate at this same time. 

The American Automobile Association said that as more states aim to end their stay-at-home orders and businesses around the country begin to reopen, gas demand is likely to continue increasing and pump prices are likely to slow their decline and possibly increase, too.

The biggest price fluctuations last week for gas in the U.S. were in Wisconsin (+11 cents), Indiana (+6 cents) and Ohio (+6 cents), on the upward price-trending side. On the reduced price end, Utah, Arizona, Vermont and South Dakota, were all down 6 cents, while Missouri, Idaho and Oregon were 5 cents lower. 

The national average today for a gallon of regular came in at $1.78, up a cent from the previous week, but still down substantially from the $1.94 we paid last month and the $2.90 we paid last year, at this time, AAA said. Mid-grade $2.15 and premium $2.42 were flat over the week, while at $2.43, diesel was down 3 cents over the week, but E85 was actually up 4 cents on the week at $1.65. 

Natural gas

Natural gas spot prices were mixed for the seven-day period that ended April 29 with the Henry Hub spot price down from $1.87 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) to $1.70/MMBtu over the same period, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the May 2020 contract expired down 15 cents at $1.79/MMBtu, down 15¢/MMBtu, while the June 2020 contract price decreased 18 cents to $1.87/MMBtu. The price of the 12-month strip — averaging June 2020 through May 2021— futures contracts declined 7 cents/MMBtu to $2.54/MMBtu.

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.