Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Pilgrim’s Pride (NASDAQ:PPC) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.14), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.39 billion. Pilgrim’s Pride had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 6.70%.Pilgrim’s Pride’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS.

Pilgrim’s Pride Price Performance

NASDAQ:PPC traded down $1.80 on Thursday, hitting $41.39. The company had a trading volume of 249,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 855,418. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.43. Pilgrim’s Pride has a 52 week low of $35.73 and a 52 week high of $57.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 59.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,776,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,852,000 after buying an additional 1,405,251 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,501,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 138.7% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 958,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,022,000 after purchasing an additional 556,766 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in Pilgrim’s Pride by 654.6% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 631,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,708,000 after acquiring an additional 547,663 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Pilgrim’s Pride by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,676,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,965,000 after purchasing an additional 423,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 16.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on PPC shares. Santander raised shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Pilgrim’s Pride in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on Pilgrim’s Pride from $49.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pilgrim’s Pride from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Pilgrim’s Pride from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.33.

Key Stories Impacting Pilgrim’s Pride

Here are the key news stories impacting Pilgrim’s Pride this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Return of capital and leverage strength: Pilgrim’s returned $2.0 billion to shareholders via special dividends in 2025 and reports net leverage under ~1.1x adjusted EBITDA, which supports shareholder returns and reduces capital structure risk. Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Full‑year scale and profitability: 2025 net sales were $18.5 billion with GAAP net income of ~$1.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA of ~$2.27 billion — showing company scale and multi‑region diversification, but mixed trends across segments. Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 earnings missed analyst expectations: adjusted EPS for the quarter was $0.68 (company) versus ~ $0.78 consensus, and GAAP EPS was $0.37 — investors often react more strongly to EPS misses even when revenue prints higher. Pilgrim’s Pride (PPC) Q4 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure from commodity trends and regional weakness: the company cited challenging commodity cut‑out values and a weak Mexico market (Mexico adjusted EBITDA margin ~1.8% in Q4), which compressed quarterly operating income and adjusted EBITDA vs. prior periods. Pilgrim’s Pride Fourth-Quarter Profit Slides, Hurt by Challenging Commodity Trends
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue beat but mixed Q4 metrics: Q4 net sales ~ $4.52B beat estimates (growth ~3.3% YoY), driven by U.S. Fresh and Prepared Foods; however, adjusted EBITDA and GAAP operating income declined sequentially, so revenue strength didn’t translate into expected EPS upside. Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Cash and working capital dynamics: year‑end cash fell to ~$640M from ~$2.04B a year earlier (after the special dividend), which may heighten investor focus on liquidity and capital allocation despite low net leverage. Pilgrim’s Pride Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 Results

About Pilgrim’s Pride

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation is a leading poultry producer in the United States and Mexico and a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS SA Headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, and Pittsburg, Texas, the company specializes in the production, processing and distribution of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products. Pilgrim’s Pride serves a diverse customer base that includes retail grocery chains, foodservice distributors and restaurant operators across North America and in select international markets.

The company’s vertically integrated operations encompass breeding, hatching, feed milling, processing plants and cold storage facilities.