Tyson Foods Net Income Doubles

Tyson Foods posted another solid quarter of results as the Springdale-based protein company saw its second quarter profits double.

Tyson Foods recorded net income of $213 million on quarterly sales that topped $9 billion for the first time. One year ago, Tyson Foods posted second quarter net income of $95 million on sales of $8.38 billion.

“We had a record second quarter, which is a testament to our great team and our balanced multi-protein, multi-channel, multi-national business model,” said Donnie Smith, Tyson Foods’ president and CEO. “Our second quarter is usually our most challenging. We had a lot to overcome, including a harsher than normal winter, but I’m satisfied with the results. I’m still confident in my expectations for the year that we will achieve our goal of 6-8% sales growth in value-added products while generating at least $2.78 earnings per share.”

Three of the company’s primary profit silos — chicken, beef and pork — saw improvements in profitability. The beef segment reversed a $26 million loss one year ago, converting it into a $35 million profit. Tyson reported rough patches in its international sales and its prepared food divisions.

“In our Prepared Foods segment in the second quarter, we integrated recent acquisitions, invested in marketing and advertising and had several new successful product launches. While these efforts take time to bear fruit, we believe Prepared Foods presents one of the best opportunities for earnings growth in the future,” Smith said.

“The International segment is another area where we think some short-term sacrifices are worth the long-term earnings potential. We’ve chosen to slow down our growth this year, primarily due to weak demand in China. We are committed to our China operations, and we believe we now have the right pace for developing that business as we wait for demand to return. We think it will get sequentially better from here, and we like the long-term opportunity,” he added.

Kim Souza with our content partner, The City Wire, has more details in this report.