Pilgrim’s Pride reports Q3 adjusted EPS $1.63, consensus $1.38

Reports Q3 revenue $4.6B, consensus $4.66B. “Throughout the quarter, we continued to emphasize operational excellence, diversify our portfolio and cultivate partnerships with Key Customers to drive value for the consumer. Our unrelenting focus on quality, service and innovation is reflected in our performance,” said Fabio Sandri, Pilgrim’s CEO. In the U.S., the relative affordability and availability of chicken drove increased demand across retail and food service. Case Ready and Small Bird drove profitable growth as demand improved from Key Customers and there was continued progress in operational excellence. In Big Bird, profitability grew from sustained improvements in production efficiencies, lower input costs, and enhanced commodity cutout values. Similarly, Prepared continued to diversify the portfolio through incremental distribution across retail and foodservice. We partnered closely with our Key Customers to further cultivate consumer demand. As such, our approach accommodated changing input costs, enabling further investment in promotional activity, generating store traffic and driving growth well above the category. These efforts were amplified by attractive market fundamentals, especially in the Big Bird segment.”