Hershey's Marketing Efforts Unlikely to Help Stock Over Short-Term

6/18 - "This double-digit jump in marketing is a smart move, but it won't be easy to digest. With the aforementioned inflationary pressures on the rise, Hershey is going to be sufficiently challenged to push growth while balancing the upward trends in input costs. But is there really a choice here? When you have a super brand like Hershey running into trouble, the thing you need to do is get out there and prop up the inherent equity of the product portfolio."

"Hershey's management will have to be as creative as possible to produce innovative advertising campaigns that are both fun and aware of who is being targeted...Differentiating its brand is more important than ever considering the recent marriage between competitors Mars and Wrigley (NYSE: WWY)."

"As for the stock, it isn't far from a 52-week low, and although I believe very long-term investors will do well with it considering its yield, I think the shares will be stuck in the basement for a lengthy period of time. Once Hershey gets its act together, things will obviously improve for shareholders, but for now, Hershey is hitting a difficult rough spot."