Tyson Foods Posts Falling Q1 Profit as Beef Segment Bleeds $319M

(Tyson Foods)

Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale (NYSE: TSN) on Monday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $85 million, a 76% drop from the same quarter a year ago.

Per share, the company said it had net income of 24 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 97 cents per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.01 per share.

The income came on improved revenue of $14.3 billion, up 5.15% from $13.6 billion. 

Shares of the company opened at $63.89 Monday and climbed nearly 1%. Over the past 12 months, shares were up more than 12%.

Beef Challenges Continue

Tyson said quarterly results were severely affected by the company’s beef segment, which posted a loss of $319 million, wider than the loss of $26 million the segment posted a year ago. The loss came despite higher revenue. Sales in the segment totaled $5.8 billion, up 9.4% from $5.3 billion.

Beef processors like Tyson have struggled mainly because the U.S. cattle herd is at multi‑decade lows, which has driven cattle costs sharply higher and crushed margins. The USDA projects domestic beef production to drop 2% in 2026.

Tyson Foods said in its earnings report it projects it will lose between $250 million and $500 million in operating income in beef in the fiscal year.

The company in January closed a beef production facility in Nebraska and scaled back operations at one in Amarillo, Texas, laying off nearly 5,000 employees.

Other Segments

The company’s chicken segment reported sales of $4.2 billion, up 3.4% from $4.06 billion. Operating income was $450 million, down from $460 million.

The prepared foods segment reported sales of $2.7 billion, up from $2.5 billion. Operating income was $322 million, up 8.4% from $297 million.

The pork segment reported sales of $1.61 billion, down slightly from $1.62 billion. Operating income was $50 million, down 31.5% from $73 million.

The international segment reported sales of $582 million, down less than 1% from $584 million. Operating income was $41 million, unchanged from a year ago.