Tyson Foods Q3 2026 Earnings Report

Tyson Foods EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.99
• Consensus EPS: $0.99
• Beat/Miss: Beat by +$0.00
• One Year Ago EPS: $0.91

Tyson Foods Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $13.87 billion
• Expected Revenue: $14.07 billion
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$197.84 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: -0.10%

Tyson Foods Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q3 2026
• Date: 8/3/2026
• Time: Before Market Opens
• Conference Call Date: Monday, August 3, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 9:00AM ET

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) (NYSE: TSN) is a multinational food company primarily engaged in the production, processing and marketing of protein-based and prepared food products. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company is one of the world’s largest processors of chicken, beef and pork. Its operations span live animal procurement and farming relationships through slaughter, further processing and distribution, supplying raw protein and value-added prepared foods to retail, foodservice and industrial customers.

The company’s product portfolio covers fresh and frozen meats, branded and private-label prepared foods, and a range of value-added items such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals, snack and sandwich meats. Tyson sells products under several consumer-facing brands and supplies bulk and portioned proteins to restaurants, supermarkets, institutional foodservice providers and food manufacturers. Its manufacturing footprint includes slaughterhouses, processing plants and further-processing facilities that support both commodity and branded lines.

Tyson operates primarily in the United States while also serving international markets through exports and global sales channels. The company’s business model is vertically integrated, incorporating feed production, hatcheries, processing, and logistics to support product consistency, food safety and scale. Over its history, Tyson has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to broaden its branded offerings and processing capabilities.

As a public company, Tyson is subject to regulatory oversight on food safety, animal welfare, labor and environmental standards, and it has invested in initiatives related to supply-chain transparency, sustainability and innovation in protein products. The company continues to adapt its product mix and distribution approach to meet changing consumer demand and the evolving needs of retail and foodservice customers.

Tyson Foods Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS rose 9% to $0.99, while adjusted operating income increased to $547 million on essentially flat sales of $13.9 billion. Year-to-date free cash flow reached $913 million, supported by $4 billion of liquidity and 2.1x net leverage.
• Positive Sentiment: Chicken delivered another strong quarter, with operating income up $40 million year over year to $488 million and an 11.2% margin. Management attributed the performance to branded and value-added mix, strategic customer commitments, operational improvements, and continued volume growth rather than commodity pricing.
• Positive Sentiment: Prepared Foods posted its third consecutive quarter of volume and sales growth, gained retail share throughout all 13 weeks, and raised its full-year operating income outlook midpoint to $1.3 billion-$1.35 billion. Management expects innovation, distribution gains, and moderating commodity costs to support further volume and profit growth into fiscal 2027.
• Negative Sentiment: Beef remained the major earnings drag, recording a $138 million operating loss as cattle shortages and USDA margin compression outweighed footprint-optimization benefits. Tyson lowered its full-year beef outlook to an operating loss of $500 million-$650 million, while Mexican cattle imports may provide only gradual improvement beginning in fiscal 2027 and beyond.
• Neutral Sentiment: Tyson narrowed fiscal 2026 adjusted operating income guidance to $2.1 billion-$2.3 billion and free cash flow guidance to $1.3 billion-$1.7 billion. Incoming CEO Jeff Schomburger said the company will largely stay the course on operational execution, brands, innovation, and value-added protein, with more detailed priorities expected later.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good day, welcome to the Tyson Foods third quarter 2026 earnings call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Jon Kathol, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

[Jon Kathol, VP of Investor Relations at Tyson Foods]

Good morning, welcome to Tyson Foods' third quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call. On today's call, Tyson Foods President and Chief Executive Officer, Donnie King, Chief Financial Officer, Curt Calaway, and incoming Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Schomburger, will provide prepared remarks. Also joining us today and available for Q&A is Wes Morris, our new Chief Operating Officer. Following the prepared remarks, we will have a Q&A session. We have also provided a supplemental presentation which may be referenced on today's call and is available on Tyson's Investor Relations website and via the link in our webcast. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding our expectations for the future. These forward-looking statements made during this call are provided pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

[Jon Kathol, VP of Investor Relations at Tyson Foods]

Forward-looking statements include all comments reflecting our expectations, assumptions, or beliefs about future events or performance that do not relate solely to historical periods. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current projections. Please refer to our forward-looking statement disclaimers on slide two, as well as our SEC filings for additional information concerning risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our projections. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Segment results are presented on a segment operating income level and will be discussed on an adjusted basis. Please note that references to earnings per share, segment operating income, operating income, and operating margin in our remarks are on an adjusted basis for our fiscal periods, unless otherwise noted.

[Jon Kathol, VP of Investor Relations at Tyson Foods]

For reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their corresponding GAAP measures, please refer to our earnings press release. Now, I will turn the call over to Donnie.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you, Jon, and good morning to everyone joining us today. Overall, I am pleased with our performance in the third quarter. This is the 12th consecutive quarter of doing what we said we would do. Our strategy is working, and I want to take a moment to reinforce what we've built at Tyson, a differentiated and diversified protein-centric company positioned to capture growing demand for high-quality protein. Animal protein remains a top priority for consumers and continues to gain momentum as a foundational part of a healthy diet. As consumers increasingly prioritize nutrient density and protein quality, including those adopting newer wellness and weight management routines, our portfolio aligns exactly with the foods they are choosing. We are directly tied to and stand to benefit from consumer preference as protein is economically advantaged versus every other food category.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Before I discuss the segment details, I want to emphasize how proud I am of the progress this team has made, improving our operational performance and execution, strengthening our portfolio, and positioning this company for continued long-term growth. We are the leader in the industry, have a portfolio of iconic brands that consumers are drawn to, and I am confident in where we are headed. Our brands are winning in the retail marketplace. In prepared foods, all 13 weeks of Q3 showed continuous volume and revenue share gains, including our highest volume share ever, with volume share up 70 basis points, unit share up 70 basis points, and dollar share up 50 basis points. This performance was driven by strong consumer demand, disciplined promotional execution, and targeted marketing investments.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

We hold leading positions across lunch meat, dinner and smoked sausage, and we are managing price gaps and promotion with discipline to compete more effectively. Prepared foods is a branded protein platform that raises the quality and the predictability of our earnings. Innovation and distribution gains remain key engines for this business, with notable brand wins in the quarter such as Hillshire Snacking up 18.4%, Hillshire Farm lunch meat up 7%, Aidells dinner sausage up 5.8%, Hillshire Farm and Wright smoked sausage up 3.4%, and Jimmy Dean refrigerated breakfast up 2.7%. Our Tyson branded chicken categories continued their momentum in retail at 0.9% for value-added chicken category and 3.1% for fresh chicken. Innovation is central to our strategy and is showing up across our entire branded portfolio.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Last quarter, I launched our Jimmy Dean high-protein platform, which continues to perform, earning broad retail distribution and resonating with younger consumers looking for convenient protein-centric options throughout the day. This quarter, I want to highlight Hillshire brand. This is a brand built for innovation, and our portfolio reflects that. Hillshire Farm brand anchors that everyday occasion. Smoked sausage, lunch meat, and ham that consumers have trusted for decades. The Hillshire brand has also extended into snacking, where the line is rapidly growing with consumers seeking convenient, on-the-go options, and with the launch of Hillshire Reserve lunch meat, we're now capturing consumers seeking premium offerings. Craft-inspired chef quality lunch meat for a more elevated eating experience. Together, these brand extensions reach new consumers with a multi-tier offering. These launches share a common thread. They deliver on the priorities driving demand across our business, protein focused, bold flavors, and everyday convenience.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Whether through simple ingredient renovation of our core products, new high protein forms, we are innovating exactly around what consumers are looking for, and we see meaningful runway to expand distribution and bring new products to market. Now let me walk you through our third quarter results, a view of the current and future environment before Curt covers the financials and updated outlook. In the third quarter, Prepared Foods continued to outpace broader category performance in both retail and food service. Q3 marks our third consecutive quarter of volume and sales growth with sales up 1.7% or $42 million year-over-year to $2.6 billion. Prepared Foods segment operating income was $321 million with a margin of 12.6%. Operating income was down slightly year-over-year as roughly $30 million of higher commodity costs in the quarter outpaced pricing, which continues to catch up.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

As commodity costs moderate, that benefit will take time to flow through production and inventory. We expect it to be realized later in the fourth quarter and into fiscal 2027. Our results demonstrate continued execution on the controllables and the continued momentum of our strategy and diversified portfolio of leading brands and proteins. We delivered yet another impressive quarter in chicken with segment operating income of $488 million, an increase of $40 million year over year at a margin of 11.2%. Demand remained robust and our customer-centric approach continued to drive volume gains. Our retail and food service volume up 3.8%, nearly four times our total volume growth of 1%, reflecting the strength of our strategic customer partnership and consumer demand. We hold the number one brand of chicken, and our differentiated chicken model continues to outperform commodity producers.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

The outperformance is grounded in structural drivers, including end-to-end execution, live performance, branded and value-added mix, and strategic customer relationships. We continue to strengthen live performance, yields, asset utilization, labor productivity, and supply chain discipline, supporting our seventh consecutive quarter of year over year volume and sales growth and reinforcing the consistency of our chicken business. Importantly, our chicken results are increasingly driven by consumers and customers rather than commodity markets, supported by a favorable mix of value-added and branded products, disciplined revenue management, and strong operational execution. Notably, our net price realization increased versus the prior year, even as input markets softened. Further evidence that our results are driven by mix, innovation, and execution rather than commodity pricing. To put that into context, industry chicken cutout values fell, yet our commercial model anchored in improving mix, volume commitments, and value-added pricing structures enabled us to grow net price realization.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

In beef, we continue to navigate the well-documented challenges of the current cattle cycle. Beef segment operating income was a loss of $138 million. Sales reflected that environment. Volume declined 15.9% while pricing rose 12.1% as constrained supply pushed input costs and pricing higher. Our footprint optimization actions from the second quarter delivered as expected. However, it was more than offset by U.S.D.A. margin compression. We remain focused on what we control, customer mix, revenue management, network productivity, cost discipline within a footprint better aligned to current supply environment. The recent announcement of a phased reopening of the Mexican border for the importation of cattle shows potential improvements to long-term cattle availability. We appreciate and support the U.S.D.A. efforts to protect and to reopen the border.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Although the reopening won't have a material impact on the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends in September, it does provide the potential for some level of improvement in 2027 and beyond. To be clear, the reopening of the Mexican border will not solve the entire gap of beef losses we are currently seeing. We are not waiting passively for the cattle cycle to turn, and we continue to focus on improving the variables within our control. Simply stated, our mission in beef is to be the best operators in the areas in which we compete. Our pork segment continued to operate in a stable environment. Operating income was $60 million with a margin of 3.8%. Consumer demand was solid and hog supplies were adequate. Together, these factors have kept the pork value chain well-balanced, supporting more consistent and predictable operating margins.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

We also continue to benefit from greater integration with prepared foods, allowing us to optimize product mix and direct raw materials toward their highest value uses. We remain focused on improving mix and further integration across the value chain. Our international segment continued its steady performance. International segment operating income was $48 million, with a margin of 8%, supported by continued cost discipline and improved execution across key markets. We remain on track with our annual outlook for this segment. Let me briefly address the macro environment. While consumer sentiment continues to be pressured and inflation remains elevated, demand for protein remains resilient. Consumers are making value-conscious choices, and protein-centric foods, including our Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright, State Fair, and Aidells are winning that consideration.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

The breadth of our brand and product offering allows us to fulfill the needs of the consumer wherever they are on their journey. Food service volume remained constructive throughout the quarter, growing 1.8% versus last year, and our retail performance continues to outpace the broader food and beverage category. This reinforces the enduring nature of our protein-centric portfolio across economic cycles. Our scale, operational capabilities, and brand strength allow us to serve customers and consumers effectively, even in a challenging macro environment. We believe these advantages will compound as conditions improve. We will continue to be disciplined and intentional about where we invest, whether in brand support, innovation, automation, supply chain capabilities, or network optimization. Our focus is on projects that strengthen service, improve productivity, and drive cash flow and long-term shareholder value. Looking ahead to fiscal 2027, I am confident in the year ahead.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

In many respects, we expect it to look a lot like 2026, building on the momentum of our end-to-end execution that has defined this year. With that, I will now turn the call over to Jeff Schomburger, our incoming CEO, for a few introductory remarks.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you, Donnie, and a huge thank you for your years of leadership and the strong foundation the team has built. This puts us in a position to build on our strong momentum going forward. I want to take just a minute to introduce myself to our investment community. I'm looking forward to meeting you all soon. While my title is new, Tyson Foods is not new to me. I've had the privilege of serving on the Tyson Foods Board of Directors for more than 10 years, and over that time, I have developed a deep respect for this company, its people, culture, brands, customers, and long-term potential. I've watched this management team navigate complex cycles, make disciplined decisions, and build a more consistent organization.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

I spent time over the past few weeks meeting with our team members, visiting facilities, engaging with our customers and consumers in their homes, and I'm excited about their energy and passion. As one team, one Tyson, we will remain focused on operational execution, strengthening the iconic brands in our multi-protein portfolio, investing behind differentiated capabilities, and generating long-term shareholder value. Innovation, quality, affordability, and understanding what consumers want will be critical so our brands continue to earn a place at tables around the world every day. To our shareholders and analysts on the call today, I look forward to getting to know you better, sharing more about our priorities, and continuing to earn your trust through consistent results and transparency. With that, I'll turn it over to Curt to walk through the financial details.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Thanks, Jeff, and welcome. It's great to have you on the call. Total company sales were $13.9 billion, essentially flat compared to the prior year, as a 3.4% increase in average sales price offset a 2.8% decline in volume, the latter driven largely by tighter cattle supply and beef. Third quarter segment operating income was $779 million, an increase of $18 million versus the prior year, driven by stronger results in chicken, pork, and international, partially offset by lower beef results. Corporate expenses and amortization were lower by $24 million compared to the same period last year, driven by disciplined cost management. Total company adjusted operating income was $547 million, a margin of 3.9%. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.99, up 9% compared to last year.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Turning to our financial position, our approach to capital allocation remains disciplined, deliberate, and forward-looking, supported by a strong balance sheet. Our priorities remain balanced, investing in the highest return areas of our business, maintaining balance sheet strength in our investment-grade credit profile, and returning cash to shareholders over time. Free cash flow remains central to our strategy, and we are encouraged by the cash generation trends through the first nine months of the year. Operating cash flow for the first nine months of the year was $1.47 billion and capital expenditures were $556 million, resulting in free cash flow of $913 million. We ended the quarter with $4 billion in liquidity and net leverage of 2.1x.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

In the quarter, we repurchased $31 million of our shares. Year-to-date, we have returned $652 million to shareholders, including dividends. Since quarter-end, we have repurchased an additional $49 million of our shares. Our balance sheet remains very healthy as we continue to prioritize financial strength, our investment-grade credit rating, and cash management to drive long-term shareholder value. Let's take a moment to review our updated outlook for fiscal 2026. As a reminder, our accounting cycle results in a 53-week year in 2026 compared to a 52-week year in 2025. Our guidance is presented on a comparable 52-week basis. We narrowed full-year sales growth guidance to 2.5%-3.5% year-over-year. Total company adjusted operating income range is now forecasted to be $2.1 billion-$2.3 billion, driven by the challenges in our Beef segment relating to cattle availability.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

We still anticipate interest expense of approximately $365 million and a tax rate of around 25%. Capital expenditures are now expected to be between $700 million and $900 million. We have narrowed the range of our free cash flow to $1.3 billion-$1.7 billion. Turning to our segment outlook. In Prepared Foods, we are raising the midpoint of our full-year segment operating income outlook with a revised range of $1.3 billion-$1.35 billion. We expect continued growth in top line and bottom line in the fourth quarter and for the full-year. In Chicken, we are reaffirming our full-year segment operating income outlook at a range of $1.9 billion-$2.05 billion. This is broadly comparable with 2025 and supported by our commercial model, operational execution, and the impact of our live operations, along with continued volume growth.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

In Beef, industry conditions are challenged. We now expect a full-year segment operating income loss in the range of $650 million to $500 million as continued U.S.D.A. margin compression and higher cattle costs more than offset the benefits of our network optimization actions. In Pork, we are reaffirming our segment operating income outlook of $250 million-$300 million. In International, we are also reaffirming our outlook of $150 million-$200 million. Our corporate expenses and amortization outlook remain the same at $950 million-$975 million. Overall, I remain confident that 2026 will be another strong year for the company. I will now turn the call back to Donnie for closing remarks.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you, Curt. I'm excited for the opportunities in front of us in 2027 and confident in the long-term prospects for Tyson Foods. Let me quickly recap our forecast and focus areas. In Chicken, we anticipate continued strength in our differentiated chicken model, underpinned by our end-to-end execution, live performance, branded and value-added mix, and strategic customer relationships. In Prepared Foods, we expect continued growth in both volume and profit, supported by the strength of our brands, ongoing innovation, and sustained consumer demand for convenient protein-centric options. In Beef, we will remain focused on operational discipline and performing competitively within our optimized long-term footprint as we continue to navigate the challenging cattle cycle. In Pork and International, we expect stable results with continued gains in operational execution across both segments.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Before we open the call for questions, I want to take a moment to say thank you to our team members, our customers, our family farmers and ranchers, and our shareholders. I'd also like to thank our Chairman, John Tyson, and the Tyson family, Barbara, John Randall, and Olivia, for their support and leadership throughout my time as CEO. Tyson is a strong company because of the people behind it, and I'm grateful for the work they do every day. We operated with discipline throughout another dynamic quarter, and I feel good about the progress we are making. Our strategy is working, our portfolio is strong, and this team is well-positioned for the opportunities ahead. Most importantly, we have a solid foundation in place. We are building momentum, growing the business, and staying focused on delivering stronger performance over time.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

I am incredibly proud of what this team has built and energized by what lies ahead under Jeff and his leadership team. With a clear focus on accelerating our brands and value-added mix, deepening our connection with consumers, strengthening strategic customer relationships, and continuing to raise the bar on operational execution, Tyson is well positioned to build on the momentum and create meaningful long-term value for our shareholders. While I'm stepping out of the CEO role, I will remain on the board and stay closely engaged in the company's performance and long-term direction. This strategy matters deeply to me, and I will continue to support Jeff and the team as we deliver on the commitments we have made to our shareholders. With that, I will turn the call back to Jon to begin the Q&A session.

[Jon Kathol, VP of Investor Relations at Tyson Foods]

Thank you, Donnie. We will now open the line for questions. Please note that our cautions regarding forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures apply to both our prepared remarks and the following Q&A. Donnie, Curt, Jeff, and Wes are available for your questions. Operator, please provide the Q&A instructions.

[Operator]

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your touchtone phone. If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset before pressing the keys. If at any time your question has been addressed and you would like to withdraw your question, please press star then two. At this time, we will pause momentarily to assemble our roster. Our first question comes from Andrew Strelzik with BMO. Please go ahead.

[Andrew Strelzik, Analyst at BMO]

Great. Thank you. First, I wanted to say congratulations, Donnie, as you take this next step. My question, you've highlighted strong performance in chicken and Prepared Foods. I guess, as we look forward, what gives you confidence in the sustainability of that performance in 2027 against a tough commodity chicken and consumer backdrop? Do you expect to hold or grow profits in those segments next year?

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Great question, Andrew, thank you. Thanks for this particular question. It's a good one. Let me start out with this, and see if I can do this. Curt, if I leave something out, you or someone else feel sure step in. Let me start with what we've done. We're really pleased with our Q3 performance. We've improved volume, gained market share, and increased profitability. That's our 12th consecutive quarter of doing what we said we'd do. Prepared Foods raised its guidance at midpoint to $1.3 billion-$1.35 billion on a third straight quarter of volume and share growth. Chicken. Chicken delivered its seventh straight quarter of volume and net sales growth, with $488 million of segment operating income and 11.2% margin, a $40 million improvement year-over-year. This is an execution story, end-to-end execution. Andrew, back to your question directly to FY 2027.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

I need to make this really clear. I don't think about Tyson as a commodity chicken company. About three-quarters of our chicken segment's operating income now runs on the same model as Prepared Foods, a pull business, built against committed strategic customer demand, our investment in the number one brand in chicken, and direct digital engagement with our consumers. This is not a push business exposed to the open cutout market. Industry-wide chicken oversupply is a commodity market dynamic. It pressures processors selling into that spot market. This is not us, because most of our chicken volume is already spoken for before we place the baby chick. Chicken is running the same playbook that has made Prepared Foods so resilient. Growing through mix, brand investment, customer partnership, and consumer-centric discipline, not by chasing commodity price.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Our portfolio, excluding beef, grew segment operating income $172 million or 6.5% over the first nine months, led by chicken, Prepared Foods, and pork. By the way, pork's role in the portfolio is largely a raw material supply to Prepared Foods. Beef. Beef hasn't performed the way we expected, and we're not pretending otherwise. We're controlling what we can control there, and we're not waiting passively for the cycle to turn. Beef is our only true commodity business. All of this taken together, Andrew, it's hard to find another consumer staples food company growing both volume and profitability the way we are. A customer-built business, not a commodity one. That's why I'm confident this will continue in FY 2027 and beyond.

[Andrew Strelzik, Analyst at BMO]

Okay. That's super helpful. Maybe just a follow-up. If I heard you correctly, I think you made a comment in the prepared remarks about 2027 looking a lot like fiscal 2026. I just wanted to clarify if you were talking about earnings or operating profit, or was that a broader comment about kind of the strategic priorities, the operational discipline, those types of things? Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Yeah. Great follow-up. As I think about 2027, we did say it would look a lot like 2026. We think the momentum continues across all of our businesses. I think that would be underscored with growth in the business. That would be growth in volume, growth in profitability. We'll continue to execute with our strategic customers. I think it's across all businesses. Even beef, where I just said that we're not pleased with the performance of that. Our execution in beef is still very good. The execution across all businesses is still very good. Our model, as I just tried to point out, we're not a commodity company Except, for example, beef. That's what gives me confidence in that, and I feel good about that.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

In terms of from a pricing standpoint, even if you use Q3 as a proof point, this wasn't a price story for us. If you look at underlying cutout values, composite cutout, the cutout for commodity chicken on the commodity market was down 45%. We saw net price realization, and that's driven by our mix, a more value-added mix, that we've talked about often. Our pricing models, even for those products in areas where they're not quite so branded and they're not quite value-added, but we have these customer pricing models that smooth and trim peaks and protect valleys. We feel good about that. In our strategic customer partnerships, we continue to add to that. All of these are built on service, quality, and innovation, not discounting. A proof point, for example, is 11.2% margin in chicken in our Q3.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

We're not chasing share through price. We're growing via mix and execution. All of that together gives me great confidence in our ability to not only do what we did in 2026, but even beyond and even better.

[Andrew Strelzik, Analyst at BMO]

Great. Thank you very much.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Ben Theurer with Barclays. Please go ahead.

[Ben Theurer, Analyst at Barclays]

Yeah. Good morning, thank you very much for taking my question. Donnie, I can just follow Andrew's comments here. Congrats on a great tenure here with Tyson.

[Ben Theurer, Analyst at Barclays]

Thank you. So. Let me pick up a little bit on the chicken business and just the commentary you just had. What I would like to understand a little bit better, as we look at your chicken year to date, obviously, if we just take the full fiscal quarter of last year, we're kind of shaking out at the low end of the guidance for fiscal 2026. What I would like to understand, based on what you've done and what you've implemented over the last couple of quarters, what would take you to the higher end of the guidance versus what would be basically a year-over-year fourth quarter flat? Just a little bit more detail maybe on the fourth quarter, particularly in chicken, just to understand the high versus low for the full year guidance. That would be my first question. Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. I would tell you in terms of fourth quarter last year, it was an all-time record. Quite frankly, the market was exceptional. We took advantage of that by producing some product and actually selling that on the market. We took advantage of that. This year in Q4, it's not going to look that way, so we obviously won't do the same thing again. Our bread and butter is going to be our branded and value-added portfolio and those strategic customers. We think Q4 will be a really good quarter. It'll be a really good year for us as a company. You're not going to see the peaks in Q4 that we saw in Q4 of last year because of what I've just described, the actions we took last year to take advantage of the market.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Ben, this is Curt. Might just add, obviously, as you looked at the guidance, we obviously maintained a chickens range that we had last quarter. That would imply somewhere between a $430 million and $580 million midpoint, just a little bit over $500. Just point out, our average through the nine months is running right at about $490, just inside of the $500 mark. It's a pretty balanced year in total, I think. The high low would be either a 52/48 split front half, back half, or at the high end, 48/52. As Donnie mentioned, a really strong quarter in Q4 of a year ago for the reasons he illustrated. I think we were more like a 47/53 front half, back half split last year. I think it's pretty balanced in total across the range we provided.

[Ben Theurer, Analyst at Barclays]

Okay. Got it. Thank you very much. As you look into the prepared foods business, I want to maybe understand a little bit as you're balancing that out over the remainder of the year, also building on the momentum into next year. Clearly, it's been different than a lot of other food companies, and you've been able to establish a better margin profile. Maybe help us understand what allowed you to reach that level, and how confident are you as it looks into next year to maintain that margin level in prepared foods in particular? Are you seeing any cost pressure or anything we should be aware of that might be a risk as we move into fiscal 2027?

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. Thanks for that. Let's start with really two things that are fundamental to every business. We're in the value-added protein business, where we sell real food, that's a big point of difference for us. In terms of how that looks, looking at the most recent quarter, we see this continuing A lot of similarities to all the things I just said about chicken and the overall portfolio. We had three consecutive quarters of volume and net sales growth, certainly outpacing the industry. This quarter, again, we gained share in volume, dollars, and units. In our Q3, 13 of the 13 weeks we saw continuous share gain in retail. We achieved the highest ever volume share this quarter. Of course, you look at all of our competitors, and you'll see real quickly that they didn't do that. You pointed that out.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Our brand wins were all broad based. Hillshire Snacking was up 18.4%. Lunch meat was up 7%. Aidells was up 5.8%, smoked sausage up 3.7%, Jimmy Dean breakfast was up 2.7%. Prepared Foods is the jewel of our portfolio and delivering as promised. We're trying to illustrate for everyone that our chicken business is very similar in nature to that. All this is driven by those strategic customer partnerships that we have, innovation, where we continue to gain distribution and increasing household penetration. The alignment with the customer and the consumer, and with us, our success that we're seeing is a result of creating a win-win across all of those three constituents.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Just to add to that as well, similar to the commentary you had for chicken, I know you had a question there. As we finish the fourth quarter, our range in a tightened Prepared Foods range implies a Q4 somewhere around roughly a $290-$340. That's with an average in the first nine months of just inside of $340. I'd say it's pretty balanced again. Q4, as you know and we've talked before, typically our second half in Prepared Foods is a little underweight for the first half, the historical kind of 55/45 split. As we've really reshaped the portfolio and driven all the elements, as Donnie highlighted, in delivering for the customers and consumers, we expect that to be a bit more balanced, and this would be a year that's implying a continuation of that more balanced view.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Somewhere around 52/48 would be about the midpoint. We will lap a Q4 of a year ago that was a little under, for the reasons we talked about last year. Very positive outlook in Q4 and also carrying through into 2027, as Donnie said earlier, expecting growth both in volume and profitability in Prepared Foods for next year.

[Ben Theurer, Analyst at Barclays]

Perfect. Thank you very much. I'll pass it on.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Michael Lavery with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

Thank you. Good morning.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Good morning.

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

Donnie, congrats, Jeff, welcome.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

Just wanted to come back to chicken. I know genetics got a little bit of unexpected air time last quarter. Just curious if you could give us an update there, partly with an eye—I know you've already touched on some of the key kind of moving parts for how to think about next year, but I think it sounds like some of the benefit from genetics and even that business' own momentum could pick up. There's a little bit, I know you made it clear it's modest, but some potential help from Mexico cattle imports. I know you called out how some of the easing costs in prepared foods would hit next quarter and start flowing through. I guess maybe, am I right to think we should consider those things as well? How big a role could the genetics piece play?

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

If you put it all together, I know you said similar to fiscal 2026, but it sounds like maybe even a step up and better. Is that a fair characterization?

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Yeah. Okay. A lot of questions in there, Michael. Let me start with the genetics question. I may ask you to be maybe a little more specific on the follow ones. Let me clear up a few things as it relates to our genetics business. First, I would remind you that the genetics business is part of our chicken segment. It's an important part of our chicken story, but our entire end-to-end chicken business is performing well. Let me see if I can explain this. You start with the chicken segment. Within the chicken segment, you have domestic chicken, and you also have our genetics company there. Both have P&Ls. Within that genetics company, we have two breeds, predominantly. We have one that is a small bird genetics, and we have one for big bird.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Now, I will give a little more color on the big bird piece of that, which is really the story we are talking about here. We sell those genetics domestically, internally to our domestic chicken business, but we also sell to outside customers and competitors. That is predominantly today, a small portion of what we do. If I look at Cobb, or excuse me, our genetics business, our Cobb P&L. If you go back to 2014, our big bird genetics began to decline. They never were as competitive as we needed, and they troughed at about 2024. What that looked like is that not only did the genetics company suffer from a P&L perspective, but also domestic chicken suffered from that as a result because we were disadvantaged in areas like eggs per hen house, livability, and of course, the amount of breast meat you get per live animal.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

What we talked about last time was we now have a competitive big bird genetics that is rolling through our supply chain. The status of that is this. By the end of the fiscal year, end of the calendar year, I should say, we will be harvesting about, in those locations that use big bird genetics, about 75% will be this new line of genetics that we have. The balance of that 75% will occur in fiscal 2027 or 25%. Again, that is only for those chickens that require big bird genetics. You should see a P&L impact to the genetics company, and likewise, and even more importantly, a bigger impact on the domestic chicken business. That is where the real fruit is born. So let me pause there and let you redirect me.

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

No, that is really helpful, and I had a jumbo-sized question. The other piece was just kind of rolling it all into the overview on just the look ahead, because it seems like that genetics flowing through should be a tailwind next year, and same with some of the prepared foods, cost pressure easing, and even maybe a lift from cattle imports. So that plus some of the commentary you had already added on how to think about the moving parts next year, it sounds like there is room for some nice improvement, and maybe I was just trying to make sure I understood how to potentially nitpick your wording when you say similar to fiscal 2026. It sounds like there is lots of reasons to believe fiscal 2027 could certainly be better or possibly nicely better. Is that fair?

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Michael, it is Curt. Let me pick up on a couple of things there. I think, look, appreciate where we are in the cycle. We are not giving guidance yet for 2027. Certainly, we need to finish 2026 before we get there, so give me a little bit of liberty there, if you would not mind. I think the message we were intending to deliver qualitatively is first and foremost, we expect to continue on the trend that we have been on in prepared foods to grow volume and ultimately profitability. We have demonstrated that, differentiated than most anyone else, and we expect to continue to deliver that. I think Donnie's messages in the first question were really around the differentiation that we believe we have in our chicken business and not being a commodity company, not being a chicken commodity company. We expect another constructive year in chicken.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Not ready to give guidance yet for the reasons I illustrated earlier, but we expect it to be another constructive year. I think we've done well in these last couple of years, and we believe a lot of those things are within our control, and we'll continue to manage those. In total, certainly, there is a lot of market pressures in the beef business. What you can expect from us is to run our beef business as efficiently as we can and control the controllables, which is the message that we've been sending over the last year plus, certainly, as it's been a challenging beef business. A little early. We'll certainly give more commentary as we get there in our next call. Wanted to leave you with some qualitative thoughts in 2027 by each of the segments. Hopefully, that helps with some context there.

[Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler]

Really helpful color. Appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Heather Jones with Heather Jones Research. Please go ahead.

[Heather Jones, Analyst at Heather Jones Research]

Good morning. Donnie, I just want to say it's been wonderful to work with you all these years, and you're definitely going to be truly missed. Jeff, wanted to extend a welcome and looking forward to working with you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you, Heather.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thanks, Heather.

[Heather Jones, Analyst at Heather Jones Research]

Yeah. I've got someone to start out with a balance sheet capital allocation question. Your balance sheet is the strongest it's been in a while, and so just wondering if you could give us updated thinking about how you're thinking about capital allocation. You mentioned some share repurchases you did recently. Just updated thinking on that, and is there potentially any large-scale M&A that could be on the table, given how strong the balance sheet is now?

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Yeah. Thanks, Heather. Thanks for noting, certainly. We worked very hard through the business all the way through the capital allocation and the choices that we've been making over the last couple of years, so appreciate the notice. As always, I start out a capital allocation question around our priorities and reemphasizing maintaining that financial strength is always first in the list

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

We also invest in the business, both organically and inorganically, to your question, and as well as returning cash to shareholders. I'll comment on the share repurchases in just a second. I think we've demonstrated consistently that we intend to build that financial strength, and as you noted, we have an incredibly healthy balance sheet. We're right at about $4 billion of liquidity, about 2.1x on a net leverage basis. We've taken gross debt down about $800 million this year, over $900 million of free cash flow. With that, we've invested about $550 million in CapEx, and we've shared a range a little tighter, but we shared a range this morning, $700 million-$900 million of CapEx. So far, on a year-to-date basis, returned about $650 million to shareholders through dividends and repos.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

To your comment, we did make an earlier comment in the prepared remarks around, we've already done some share repos already in the early part of Q4, of about $45 million or so. I think that represents certainly an attractive valuation for us to allocate capital to. It's been a good return for us, we believe. We still continue to see great opportunities to invest in the business. We'll take a balanced view as we have. We'll certainly share guidance in the upcoming call next quarter relative to our thoughts of CapEx. We continue to see really great opportunities to invest organically in our business.

[Heather Jones, Analyst at Heather Jones Research]

Okay. Thank you for that. My follow-up is, I've just been trying to reconcile a couple of things on the chicken business. Donnie, to your comments about the genetics, improved yield, improved hen production, egg production, just basically improvement across the board on the productivity. During y'all's Q3, the industry grew volumes 4.7%, but y'all's volumes were only up 1%. I'm just trying to reconcile disparity there. Is that just lower external purchases? Just how should I think about that so that I can think about it correctly going forward?

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. Your numbers in terms of supply, if I understood correctly, they do go up from an industry standpoint. I would remind you that very simply said, we match our supply to our demand. That being said, remember that we are growing our branded and value-added offerings at a faster pace than we're growing the overall. In fact, it's almost four times what we're growing overall sales. If you go back and look through history, you would find that we probably sold more whole birds, or we sold more of a product with bones in it, meaning could be whole body, could be eight piece, could be any of those things. We're selling a more value-added mix today that looks more like a portion boneless, skinless chicken breast or a ready-to-eat chicken tenderloin or things like that.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Our business is growing, but it's growing in the places where we want it to grow. As I referenced, that's growing about 4x the total sales of about just over 1%.

[Heather Jones, Analyst at Heather Jones Research]

Okay. Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Leah Jordan with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

[Leah Jordan, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Donnie, I wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for the company and shareholders over the years. Wishing you the best. Jeff, definitely looking forward to working with you, and congrats on the new role.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thanks, Leah.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Leah Jordan, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

This has all been really helpful color today, and I know we'll have more discussions about 2027 going forward. I just wanted to dig into Prepared Foods. You're taking share, but the category has broadly decelerated recently, and we're in a mixed consumer backdrop. Maybe you could just comment on the competitive environment overall, what you're seeing in terms of promotional activity. Then in an earlier question, you talked about you still expect volume growth into next year. I was just curious, how you're thinking about category growth versus share gains as key drivers to that volume growth in Prepared Foods. Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Great question. Let me say this. In all of these categories in which we participate, I think it's important to remember we're the category leader. Being the category leader requires you to grow the category, that's a responsibility that we take very seriously. I get the overall categories are trending down and we're growing. Most of that is driven by new product innovation, improved distribution, and the momentum in there just continues. We're connecting with younger consumers. We've talked about that in here, that our consumer was aging, and that we had an opportunity with younger consumers. Some of our new Jimmy Dean high-protein, for example, is resonating with younger consumers. We've also targeted products like Hillshire Snacking for on-the-go growth and

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Think of it in terms of the point of difference. It's protein focused, bold flavors, and everyday convenience. We see a lot of meaningful runway ahead to expand distribution and launch new products. We feel good about where we are, but even in 2027 and beyond, we see tremendous opportunity behind the iconic brands that we have, not only in prepared foods, but in chicken, and look to continue to grow there. We have, what I would say is the best in class tools across the whole commercial front that we've invested in digital tools, and we're seeing the benefit of that with consumers and that first-party data and those type of things. That's a point of difference for us, I believe.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

We've done work with and tested a number of products using agentic AI, and that's looking good, and we'll expand that as we move forward. We're getting closer to the consumer. We have the products that they want. They taste good, they're affordable, they're nutritious, and they're convenient. The intersection of all that, and all this taken together, leads to growth, efficiency, and a lot of runway ahead. It all starts with the consumer.

[Leah Jordan, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Okay, that's great color. Thank you. For my follow-up, I did want to stick with prepared foods a little bit more here. In your comments around we should get some cost recovery later in the fourth quarter. Just more detail on how we should think about the timing of that in the quarter and into next year, what are you seeing and how are you planning across the different inputs? What are you seeing in terms of inflation or deflation? Any helpful color there? Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. If I look at in Q3, we had about $30 million of higher commodity costs in Q3. That was concentrated predominantly in beef trim. Pork commodities have begun to decline. Our pricing continues to catch up on beef. The pork benefit that I just mentioned from declining commodities didn't really show up in Q3. It was in inventory. The pork benefits will flow through in Q4, and we're seeing that and into 2027. If I think about fuel cost, that's starting in, what was it? About mid-April, we saw fuel costs go up. Fuel and distribution costs were a bit of a headwind in Q3 and have been since April. Remember that fuel for us, or particularly customer freight, is a pass-through. It may lag by a quarter or two, but we ultimately recapture that. We do not subsidize that.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

We think all this is baked into our plan, and as you might expect from us, it will be conservative in our approach. At this, we're extremely proud of our prepared foods business. I personally don't believe there's another packaged goods company that is performing at the level of our prepared foods today, and there's significant runway ahead.

[Leah Jordan, Analyst at Goldman Sachs]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Peter Galbo with Bank of America. Please go ahead.

[Peter Galbo, Analyst at Bank of America]

Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for your questions. Curt, maybe just one on beef. Again, going back to your comments about, I think you said potential for improvement next year, it would be slow on the back of Mexico reopening. Just, I think if I look at Street estimates for next year and understanding you're not giving quantitative guidance today, they're looking for you to though have the losses almost that you're going to see this year. I just wanted to push on whether that's even within the realm of possibility given the update today, or whether there's probably a more conservative approach directionally that we should all be looking at.

[Wes Morris, COO at Tyson Foods]

Yeah. Peter, this is Wes. Thanks for your question. The administration opening the border to Mexico, historically, about 5% of the U.S. harvest comes out of Mexico. As you know, that starts August 24th in Arizona and then goes to New Mexico and then ultimately to Texas. That creates some tailwinds for us going forward. Most of those are feeder cattle, so it'll take six months plus after they go on grass or into feedlots. Heifer retention up 3% is a positive move forward. It's not the rapid rebuild we saw in 2014, but another set of tailwinds going forward.

[Peter Galbo, Analyst at Bank of America]

Okay. Thanks, Wes, for that. I guess just to pick up on the comment, Donnie, on pork inputs moving lower, obviously, that's a favorable tailwind from a margin standpoint. I think there's been some discussion just how much of that is supply driven, just, hey, we have more availability and that's creating a better environment versus has there been demand destruction? Not necessarily for Tyson, but just at an industry level in some of these subcategories, and that's pushing down the input costs. Just wondering if you could kind of elaborate a bit more, from that perspective, what you're seeing on a category level for the industry. Thanks very much.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. Thank you for the question. We have seen them go down and, of course, from a pork perspective, it looks to me to be stable, from a supply chain perspective. You saw lots of concern or questions about PRRS. That was top of mind, like in Q2 and about the supply. For us, we've not seen the real impact of that. I mean, the hogs that we have are predominantly in the Midwest, we weren't impacted at all by that. I think hog supplies will be adequate moving forward. Demand is solid. I think if there's any negative to this, I don't think we've seen the pork business pick up as much volume as you might expect with high priced beef. I think chicken took most of that.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

That was a bit surprising, I think we're well balanced from a Tyson perspective in terms of the hogs. Remember, our hog supplies are predominantly an input for our prepared foods business, we expect stable, predictable raw material cost as we move forward and, certainly an advantage as we optimize that through prepared foods.

[Peter Galbo, Analyst at Bank of America]

Thank you.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Thomas Palmer with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

[Thomas Palmer, Analyst at JPMorgan]

Good morning, thanks for the question. Donnie, congratulations, Jeff and Wes, welcome to your respective roles. Jeff, I know it's still early, but I did want to maybe ask on kind of your key focus items and initiatives coming in the context especially of you come from maybe a more traditional CPG background, rather than one that's more protein-centric, and to what extent that might signal a bit of an ongoing change in kind of Tyson's focus in having you head up with so much focus on value add that Donnie's been commenting on out here for the last couple of years. Thanks.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thanks, Thomas. I think Donnie's been pretty clear about what our strategy is, and more importantly, very clear that it's working. As you would expect, as I come in, we're going to stay the course and accelerate the strategy that is already delivering great results. I'll have a lot more to say about that in the future, next quarter. Let me just say a couple of things, Thomas, and the first is, I can't tell you how excited I am to be on this team. I've spent an enormous amount of time the last few weeks listening and learning, meeting with team members, several customers, five plants, and I've visited the homes of consumers to see how they experience our categories and brands. As you can tell from this call, we have a great foundation in place for our next chapter of growth.

[Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO at Tyson Foods]

We will win. Our people, our culture, and our brands are strong, and the customers I talk to, they want us to help them grow. Like I said, I'll have a lot more to say in the future, but I really like where we are, and I really like our chances. Thanks, Thomas.

[Thomas Palmer, Analyst at JPMorgan]

Thanks for that. I had another question on chicken. Look, for several quarters, feed costs have been a cost tailwind. I think they were pretty neutral this quarter. In your view, what's kind of the path forward when we think about the input cost environment for the chicken business, and then to what extent we should think about the business having maybe price escalators to mitigate the impacts? Thanks.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. I look at the futures on that. We do see some moderate increase in that as we move forward. I think what I might say to that, Tom, is that I think it's important to remind everyone that we have alignment with strategic customers, where we collectively manage the risk associated with input costs. We have a diversified pricing models that try to mitigate these things as well. We're not uncovered in this. We're not trying to outguess the market. We're trying to be on the market and try to get just stable commodity prices, and I feel good about what we're able to do there. Not only what we've done. As I think about moving into 2027, I think the process is in place to mitigate those risks.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Those risks or increases will be real if they occur. Based on all the projections I've seen, based on corn and soy, I feel good about where we are.

[Thomas Palmer, Analyst at JPMorgan]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Alexia Howard with Bernstein. Please go ahead.

[Alexia Howard, Analyst at Bernstein]

Good morning, everyone, and congratulations to Donnie, and welcome too, Jeff. Can I just start with beef? Can you talk about how much more cost-cutting, productivity savings and benefits there are? I know you've been working really hard to close plants, to improve capacity utilization, and get the business right-sized given the state of the herd. Is there more of that to come? What would it take to get beef profitability back to positive? Is that within reach at this point?

[Wes Morris, COO at Tyson Foods]

Thanks, Alexia. I've been in my role for seven weeks, certainly beef has been a top priority. We do have a great cross-functional team effort going on as we speak to control everything we can in this period of tight cattle supply. Our past optimization delivered on plan, unfortunately was offset in the quarter by live-to-cutout spread differences.

[Alexia Howard, Analyst at Bernstein]

Thank you. Yes, I'm just curious about whether there's a path to profitability here. Separately, freight cost inflation has come up as a problem for other companies. My understanding is that you've got a lot of owned freight, so it shouldn't be an issue for you. Can you just elaborate on that? What is your exposure there if freight costs continue to rise?

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Sure. Yes, we have seen the inflation from fuel costs in the quarter, and essentially since about mid-April. I would remind you that customer freight is a pass-through. We don't subsidize it. Recovery can lag one or two quarters. To your point, our large internal fleet that we have helps us mitigate our overall cost impacts, and so that is performing as well. It is higher, but we mitigate that through our process.

[Alexia Howard, Analyst at Bernstein]

Great. Thank you very much. I'll pass it on.

[Curt Calaway, CFO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Pooran Sharma with Stephens. Please go ahead.

[Pooran Sharma, Analyst at Stephens]

Good morning, and thanks for the question. Congrats on a successful tenure, Donnie, and looking forward to working with you, Jeff.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you.

[Pooran Sharma, Analyst at Stephens]

Sure thing. Just two quick ones for me. Maybe just we could loop this into one, really. It's on comments on heifer retention. Wes, you got to it before I did. I did want to ask about this because I was a little surprised seeing that number as high as it was. We were hearing concerns of drought in key cattle-producing states. Chatter was heifer retention or herd expansion would get delayed. A, was that 3%-4% upside, was that a surprise in your view? Maybe as just a follow-up, you mentioned 5% of head slaughtered for the border reopening, and we're doing it phased. How long do you think it would take for us to get a full 5%?

[Wes Morris, COO at Tyson Foods]

I think it's going to take up to a year by the time you move through the process in Arizona, then New Mexico, then Texas. Knowing these are younger cattle that'll go to grass or feed yards, it'll be close to a year before you see the positive impact of that border opening. As for your question on heifer retention, no, there's been enough positive environmental conditions that I wasn't surprised by the 3% heifer retention. I would point out, that's not a number that's the rapid rebuild we saw in the 2014 timeframe. Encouraging, it's starting, but still a long way to go.

[Pooran Sharma, Analyst at Stephens]

Great. Thank you.

[Operator]

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Donnie King for any closing remarks.

[Donnie King, President and CEO at Tyson Foods]

Thank you for your time and continued interest in Tyson Foods. We look forward to sharing our continued progress with you next quarter.

[Operator]

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Jon Kathol, VP of Investor Relations
• Donnie King, President and CEO
• Jeff Schomburger, Incoming CEO
• Curt Calaway, CFO
• Wes Morris, COO

Analysts

• Andrew Strelzik, Analyst at BMO
• Ben Theurer, Analyst at Barclays
• Michael Lavery, Analyst at Piper Sandler
• Heather Jones, Analyst at Heather Jones Research
• Leah Jordan, Analyst at Goldman Sachs
• Peter Galbo, Analyst at Bank of America
• Thomas Palmer, Analyst at JPMorgan
• Alexia Howard, Analyst at Bernstein
• Pooran Sharma, Analyst at Stephens