What's going on?

Turns out eating your way through lockdown was more productive than you thought: chocolatier Hershey and Ben & Jerry�s maker Unilever both reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits on Thursday.

What does this mean?

US consumer confidence is miles ahead of Europe�s, and that much was clear from Unilever�s update: the European packaged food giant�s sales growth � which barely fell at all compared to major analysts� pessimistic expectations � was partly thanks to its booming North American business. Even when panic-fueled stockpiling was out the way, Unilever continued to benefit from high demand for its foods, ice creams, and teas � though that was somewhat offset by weak demand from the partly shuttered restaurant sector.


America�s Hershey � which reported a higher-than-expected profit on Thursday � has been going through the same thing, and said it�s predicting US sales growth will increase in the second half of the year when, among other things, it hikes the prices of some of its products.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Hershey�s kisses.

Unilever warned it�s not out of the woods yet: over half its revenue comes from �emerging markets� like India and Brazil, both of which are very much in the middle of coronavirus � meaning demand for certain products could freeze up. But Hershey isn�t as dependent on those markets � and since the value of the US dollar has been falling against other major currencies, any money the company earns outside the US will be worth more when it�s brought home, potentially sweetening its profits.

For markets: The boring-er, the better.

Unilever and Hershey�s stocks rose 9% and 4% respectively on Thursday, while personal care company Kimberly-Clark � also out with a positive update � saw its shares climb 3%. Good news for earnings doesn�t always end with rising stocks, but the predictability of these so-called consumer staple companies during a downturn clearly seems to be helping them hold their own.