GREELEY, Colo., July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation (NASDAQ: PPC), one of the world's leading food companies, reports its second quarter 2026 financial results.

Second Quarter Highlights

• Net Sales of $4.6 billion.
• Consolidated GAAP Operating Income margin of 1.4%.
• GAAP Net Income of $13.2 million and GAAP EPS of $0.06. Adjusted Net Income of $153.9 million, and Adjusted EPS of $0.64.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $360.0 million, or a 7.8% margin, with Adjusted EBITDA margins of 8.7% in the U.S., 7.6% in Europe, and 3.9% in Mexico.
• U.S. Fresh volumes rose from increased demand across both retail and foodservice. Profitability declined from previous year due to commodity market pricing reductions, while margins increased sequentially from last quarter with improvements in our productivity, completion of plant upgrades and gains in live operations. Pilgrim’s continues to improve its portfolio and support key customer growth with the investment in Ellijay, Ga., to increase deboning in the small bird category. 
• U.S. Prepared Foods drove profitable growth as sales and margins both rose from last year. Just Bare^® retail sales increased over 30% versus prior year, making it the second largest brand in the fully cooked category. Construction of the new prepared foods facility in Walker County, Ga., remains on schedule. 
• Europe sales and volumes rose from continued marketplace momentum for poultry and meals offerings.  Sales of Rollover^® grew double digits whereas Fridge Raiders^® remained steady. Margins in the UK pork segment continue to be impacted by excess imports from European countries.
• Mexico volumes grew from last year with improved growing conditions and as retail fresh volumes of Pilgrim’s^® rose over 30%. Margins in the live commodity markets were impacted by increased domestic production and imports in chicken, greater egg availability, and additional pork imports. Ramp up of live operations in the Southern Peninsula continues to be on track.
• Pilgrim’s approach to engaging its team members and supporting its communities garnered multiple awards across regions for workplace satisfaction, including “America’s Greatest Workplaces” by Newsweek in the U.S., “Employer of the Year” by The Grocer in Europe, and the “Exceptional Companies Award” by the Institute for the Promotion of Quality in Mexico.
• Maintained strong liquidity position to support future growth opportunities as the company’s net leverage ratio is currently 1.43x Adjusted EBITDA, below the target of 2x to 3x.
  
  

^{(1)  Reconciliations for non-U.S. GAAP measures are provided in subsequent sections within this release.}

“Throughout the quarter, chicken demand remained firm in all regions as affordability continued to resonate with consumers across retail and foodservice,” said Fabio Sandri, Pilgrim’s President and CEO.  “We continued our investments to drive sales growth and reduce volatility, mitigating downsides in the chicken commodity markets.”

In the second quarter, counter-seasonal movements in the jumbo commodity cutout market emerged as values fell more than 25% from the prior year. While profitability declined compared to last year, margins improved sequentially with the completion of plant upgrades and improvements in live operations. 

Case Ready and Small Bird volumes grew from incremental distribution with Key Customers. Investments in Big Bird for portioning equipment continue to support the growth of Prepared Foods, moderating the impact of commodity market declines. Additional investments were announced in Ellijay, Ga., to support the long-term growth of Key Customers in the boneless category. 

“While consumer interest in chicken continued to be healthy across all channels, supply growth rose faster than demand.” said Sandri. “Our relentless focus on closing operational gaps and further investments in plant upgrades to increase our internal supply capabilities and support Key Customer growth will further improve our ability to mitigate the impact of volatile commodity fundamentals, creating a more resilient earnings profile.”

U.S. Prepared Foods continues to drive profitable growth as sales and margins expanded compared to prior year.  Just Bare^® continues to lead growth within the frozen fully cooked category, growing market share by nearly 300 basis points over the past year.

“The growth of Just Bare^® continues to demonstrate our ability to diversify our portfolio through brands,” Sandri said. “Our investment in Walker County, Ga., will further enhance our operational capabilities, accelerating momentum of our value-added line up.”

In Europe, volumes to Key Customers in retail rose faster than the overall grocery channel, as poultry and meal offerings continued to resonate throughout the market. These growth areas helped compensate for pressured pork margins due to increased European imports to the UK, additional costs driven by the Middle East conflict, and decreases in foodservice traffic.

“Our diversified portfolio continues to demonstrate adaptability needed to meet consumer needs and drive volume growth through Key Customer partnerships,” commented Sandri. “Equally important, we’ve secured additional distribution through our innovation and branded offerings that will further expand our presence.”

Mexico increased volumes through growth in both fresh and prepared. In Fresh, branded offerings in retail rose nearly 30% compared to last year. Prepared experienced similar success as Pilgrims^® value-added products grew over double digits in both retail and foodservice.

Margins were compressed versus last year as counter-seasonal growing conditions for chickens, supporting a significant increase in production. Total protein supply also expanded further given additional egg availability and pork imports. 

Projects to drive sales and mitigate the impact of commodity volatility remain on schedule. The new prepared foods line in Porvenir started production on schedule, and expansion in the Southern Peninsula proceeds as planned.

“Demand for chicken continues to be robust throughout Mexico despite a significant increase in overall protein supply,” remarked Sandri. “The growth of our branded offerings and prepared foods along with our investments will further mitigate challenges from live commodity markets, improving our margin profile while reducing risk.”

Pilgrim’s was also recognized as a top employer of choice by multiple entities across all regions, resulting from the company’s partnerships with its team members and communities, its training and development programs, and overall workplace satisfaction. 

“Culture is paramount to our success,” concluded Sandri. “It attracts talent, retains team members and ultimately drives the success of our business. We will continue to be vigilant in embedding our unique values, strategies, and methods throughout all aspects of our organization.”

Conference Call Information

A conference call to discuss Pilgrim’s quarterly results will be held tomorrow, July 30, at 7 a.m. MT (9 a.m. ET). Participants are encouraged to pre-register for the conference call using the link below. Callers who pre-register will be given a unique PIN to gain immediate access to the call and bypass the live operator. Participants may pre-register at any time, including up to and after the call start time.

To pre-register, go to: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10210422/1046c71b5dc

You may also reach the pre-registration link by logging in through the investor section of our website at
https://ir.pilgrims.com in the “Events & Presentations” section.

For those who would like to join the call but have not pre-registered, access is available by dialing +1 (844) 883-3889 within the US, or +1 (412) 317-9245 internationally, and requesting the “Pilgrim’s Pride Conference.”

Replays of the conference call will be available on Pilgrim’s website approximately two hours after the call concludes and can be accessed through the “Investor” section of www.pilgrims.com.

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s employs approximately 63,000 people and operates protein processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the U.K, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe. The Company’s primary distribution is through retailers and foodservice distributors. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release that state the intentions, plans, hopes, beliefs, anticipations, expectations or predictions of the future of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation and its management are considered forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will” and the negative thereof and similar words and expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. It is important to note that actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements include: matters affecting the poultry industry generally; the ability to execute the Company’s business plan to achieve desired cost savings and profitability; future pricing for feed ingredients and the Company’s products; outbreaks of avian influenza or other diseases, either in Pilgrim’s Pride’s flocks or elsewhere, affecting its ability to conduct its operations and/or demand for its poultry products; contamination of Pilgrim’s Pride’s products, which has previously and can in the future lead to product liability claims and product recalls; exposure to risks related to product liability, product recalls, property damage and injuries to persons, for which insurance coverage is expensive, limited and potentially inadequate; management of cash resources; restrictions imposed by, and as a result of, Pilgrim’s Pride’s leverage; changes in laws or regulations affecting Pilgrim’s Pride’s operations or the application thereof; new immigration legislation or increased enforcement efforts in connection with existing immigration legislation that cause the costs of doing business to increase, cause Pilgrim’s Pride to change the way in which it does business, or otherwise disrupt its operations; competitive factors and pricing pressures or the loss of one or more of Pilgrim’s Pride’s largest customers; currency exchange rate fluctuations, trade barriers, exchange controls, expropriation and other risks associated with foreign operations; disruptions in international markets and distribution channels, including, but not limited to, the impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict; the risk of cyber-attacks, natural disasters, power losses, unauthorized access, telecommunication failures, and other problems on our information systems; and the impact of uncertainties of litigation and other legal matters described in our most recent Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, including the In re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation, as well as other risks described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

PILGRIM’S PRIDE CORPORATION
Selected Financial Information
(Unaudited)

“EBITDA” is defined as the sum of net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. “Adjusted EBITDA” is calculated by adding to EBITDA certain items of expense and deducting from EBITDA certain items of income that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing operating performance consisting of: (1) foreign currency transaction losses (gains), (2) costs related to litigation settlements, (3) restructuring activities losses, (4) asset impairment, and (5) net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest. EBITDA is presented because it is used by management and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”), to compare the performance of companies. We believe investors would be interested in our Adjusted EBITDA because this is how our management analyzes EBITDA applicable to continuing operations. The Company also believes that Adjusted EBITDA, in combination with the Company’s financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of certain significant items on EBITDA and facilitates a more direct comparison of its performance with its competitors. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not measurements of financial performance under U.S. GAAP. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. In addition, other companies in our industry may calculate these measures differently limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income as indicators of our operating performance or any other measures of performance derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. These limitations should be compensated for by relying primarily on our U.S. GAAP results and using EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA only on a supplemental basis. 

^{(a)  Interest expense, net, consists of interest expense less interest income.
(b)  Transactional functional currency gains/losses are included in the line item Foreign currency transaction losses (gains) in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income.
(c)  This represents expenses recognized in anticipation of probable settlements in ongoing litigation.
(d)  Restructuring activities losses are related to costs incurred, such as severance.
(e)  Primarily due to the closure announcement of the Chattanooga, TN harvest plant.}

The summary unaudited consolidated income statement data for the 12 months ended June 28, 2026 (the LTM Period) have been calculated by subtracting the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the  six months ended June 28, 2026 from the sum of (1) the applicable audited consolidated income statement data for the year ended December 28, 2025 and (2) the applicable unaudited consolidated income statement data for the six months ended June 28, 2026.

EBITDA margins have been calculated by taking the relevant unaudited EBITDA figures, then dividing by net sales for the applicable period. EBITDA margins are presented because they are used by management and we believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

Adjusted EBITDA by segment figures are presented because they are used by management and we believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

^{(a)  Interest expense, net, consists of interest expense less interest income.
(b)  Transactional functional currency gains/losses are included in the line item Foreign currency transaction losses (gains) in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income.
(c)  This represents expenses recognized in anticipation of probable settlements in ongoing litigation.
(d)  Restructuring activities losses are related to costs incurred, such as severance.
(e)  Primarily due to the closure announcement of the Chattanooga, TN harvest plant.}

Adjusted EBITDA by segment figures are presented because they are used by management and we believe they are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, as a supplement to our results prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies.

^{(a)  Interest expense, net, consists of interest expense less interest income.
(b)  Transactional functional currency gains/losses are included in the line item Foreign currency transaction losses (gains) in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income.
(c)  This represents expenses recognized in anticipation of probable settlements in ongoing litigation.
(d)  Restructuring activities losses are related to costs incurred, such as severance.
(e)  Primarily due to the closure announcement of the Chattanooga, TN harvest plant.}

Adjusted Operating Income is calculated by adding to Operating Income certain items of expense and deducting from Operating Income certain items of income. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income to adjusted operating income as follows:

Adjusted Operating Income Margin for each of our reportable segments is calculated by dividing Adjusted operating income by Net Sales. Management believes that presentation of Adjusted Operating Income Margin provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of GAAP operating income margin for each of our reportable segments to adjusted operating income margin for each of our reportable segments is as follows:

Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation ("Pilgrim's") is calculated by adding to net income attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of expense and deducting from net income attributable to Pilgrim's certain items of income, as shown below in the table. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is presented because it is used by management, and we believe it is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties, in addition to and not in lieu of results prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP, to compare the performance of companies. Management also believe that this non-U.S. GAAP financial measure, in combination with our financial results calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP, provides investors with additional perspective regarding the impact of such charges on net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share. Adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is not a measurement of financial performance under U.S. GAAP, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes that presentation of adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share to adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation per common diluted share is as follows:

^{(a)  The loss on early extinguishment of debt recognized as a component of interest expense was due to the repurchase of the Senior Notes due 2032 in the second quarter of 2026.
(b)  Net tax impact of adjustments represents the tax impact of all adjustments shown above.}

Adjusted EPS is calculated by dividing the adjusted net income attributable to Pilgrim's stockholders by the weighted average number of diluted shares. Management believes that Adjusted EPS provides useful supplemental information about our operating performance and enables comparison of our performance between periods because certain costs shown below are not indicative of our current operating performance. A reconciliation of U.S. GAAP to non-U.S. GAAP financial measures is as follows:

^{(a)  The loss on early extinguishment of debt recognized as a component of interest expense was due to the repurchase of the Senior Notes due 2032 in the second quarter of 2026.
(b)  Net tax impact of adjustments represents the tax impact of all adjustments shown above.}