Earnings

JBS Profit Falls To $164 Million As Pork And Brazilian Beef Earnings Slide

North American beef recovered, but weaker results elsewhere pushed quarterly free cash flow below zero.

JBS, which produces meat and prepared foods, earned about $164 million for shareholders in the third quarter, down from $580.9 million a year earlier, according to its earnings announcement filed Monday with the SEC. Pork and Brazilian beef earnings weakened even as North American beef returned to positive adjusted earnings under unaudited U.S. accounting measures.

Pork And China Squeeze Earnings

Sales rose 1% to $22.7 billion, but adjusted earnings fell 36% to $1.181 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization under international accounting standards. The unaudited results put shareholder profit at $164.4 million, or $0.15 a share, against $0.52 a year earlier; adjusted earnings per share fell to $0.16 from $0.54.

JBS USA Pork's adjusted earnings on the international-accounting measure dropped 83% to $37 million. Sales fell 15.3% to $1.881 billion. JBS attributed the deterioration to softer U.S. demand, greater worldwide pork supply and lower volumes and selling prices.

Brazil's adjusted earnings fell 54% to $141 million. JBS said China's completed 2026 import quota curtailed exports, while cattle became more expensive. Higher domestic sales, supported by the Friboi+ retailer program and more value-added products, did not offset those pressures.

Pilgrim's Pride earned $462 million on the same adjusted measure, down about 40%. Its U.S. prepared-foods sales and margins grew, but European operations faced higher input costs and difficult pork markets. Mexico's profitability improved from the prior quarter.

North American Beef Finds Its Footing

North American beef generated $21 million in adjusted earnings under unaudited U.S. accounting measures, versus a $46 million loss a year earlier. On the international-accounting basis used for the other segment figures, it still lost about $2 million, compared with roughly $42 million previously.

JBS credited processing-capacity adjustments, reopened U.S.-Mexico cattle crossings, robust beef demand and closer coordination of procurement, production and sales. Monthly margins progressed from negative 2.9% in July to breakeven in August and positive 3.9% in September.

Seara's sales rose 6.4% to $2.511 billion, helped by higher fresh-poultry export prices and volumes. Australia moved the other way on profitability: adjusted earnings fell 20.6% to $198 million as export quotas and higher cattle and lamb costs hurt beef operations. Huon benefited from larger harvests and heavier fish.

JBS sells fresh and frozen proteins and foods such as bacon, sausages and ready-to-eat meals to supermarkets, distributors, restaurants and other customers. Exports accounted for 26% of its $86.2 billion in net revenue in 2025.

Poultry also sits at the center of an ownership proposal. On August 18, JBS offered 2.086 JBS shares for each Pilgrim's Pride share that JBS and its affiliates did not own. Pilgrim's Pride operates in the U.S., Europe and Mexico.

Inventories Consume Cash

Quarterly free cash flow turned negative at $167.4 million, against positive $383.5 million a year earlier. That measure deducts interest, capital spending and lease payments. JBS attributed the reversal to lower earnings and cash tied up in inventories, including grain and chicken at Seara and Brazilian beef intended for China under the 2027 quota.

Net debt relative to trailing adjusted earnings rose to 3.54 times from 2.39 times a year earlier. JBS expanded its revolving credit facility to $4.2 billion from $3.5 billion, bringing total liquidity to $8.2 billion; the company said it has no material debt maturities over the next five years.

Global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni pointed to an early-fourth-quarter improvement in Chinese buying: "At the beginning of the fourth quarter Chinese demand strengthened as the market began positioning for the 2027 quota." He also said market conditions were improving for both North American and Brazilian beef.

JBS is scheduled to discuss the results on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.