Tyson Foods 3rd-Quarter Profit Rises 41 Percent

Tyson Foods Inc. said Monday that net income increased more than 41 percent because of strong performance across all business segments.

Reporting before the stock markets opened, the Springdale-based food production company posted earnings of $484 million, or $1.25 per share, for the quarter that ended July 2, up from $343 million, or 83 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

The full news release accompanying the earnings report can be found here.

In a conference call Monday morning, CEO Donnie Smith said third-quarter earnings per share set a record high, up 51 percent. Earnings beat the average estimate of $1.06 per share from nine analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue fell 6.6 percent to $9.4 billion.

Beef sales fell 12 percent to $3.78 billion, while volume increased 2.9 percent and price decreased 14.6 percent. Volume rose because of an increase in the number of processed cattle, but prices fell because of the increasing beef supply.

So far this fiscal year, the value of beef, which is the company’s largest business segment, has been down 15 to 20 percent, Smith said in the conference call. He also noted that the company sold some of its beef businesses in previous years.

Yet, the company’s “high-level performance” is expected to continue, he said. Tyson expects meat production will rise between 2 percent and 3 percent in the next fiscal year, and the company will see a cost savings of about $700 million across the entire prepared foods segment as the company continues to integrate its Hillshire brands.

“We again demonstrated our ability to deliver higher, more stable earnings through our differentiated business model that emphasizes growth in prepared foods and value-added chicken,” Smith said in a news release. “Following record earnings this year, we intend to build on our momentum to generate more growth in fiscal 2017.”

Tyson’s shares were trading at $73.53, down 11 cents or .15 percent at midday Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have traded between $39.05 and $75.46 in the past year.