Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Smithfield Foods (NASDAQ:SFD) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter. Smithfield Foods had a return on equity of 15.72% and a net margin of 6.84%.Smithfield Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Smithfield Foods’ conference call:

• Positive Sentiment: Smithfield reported record second-quarter adjusted operating profit of $300 million, up 2% for the first half to a record $638 million; adjusted EPS rose 13% year over year to $0.62.
• Positive Sentiment: Packaged Meats showed strong commercial momentum, including a 6.2% increase in points of distribution, 21.7% growth in e-commerce volume, and share gains in major categories such as hot dogs, lunch meat, sausage, and smoked ham.
• Positive Sentiment: Smithfield highlighted a strong balance sheet and cash generation, ending the quarter with $3.6 billion of liquidity, $1.4 billion in cash, net debt of just 0.4 times adjusted EBITDA, and $204 million of first-half operating cash flow.
• Negative Sentiment: Management lowered its 2026 outlook, now expecting adjusted operating profit of $1.225 billion to $1.375 billion versus its prior forecast, with sales growth reduced to roughly flat from low single-digit growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Persistent inflation, cautious consumer spending, higher freight, fuel, packaging, and marketing costs are pressuring volumes and margins; softer hog markets are expected to reduce third-quarter profitability and produce a seasonal hog-production loss in the fourth quarter.

Smithfield Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ SFD traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.71. The company had a trading volume of 882,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,329,670. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $25.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.66. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of -0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Smithfield Foods has a twelve month low of $21.08 and a twelve month high of $29.81.

Smithfield Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 13th will be paid a $0.3125 dividend. This represents a $1.25 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 13th. Smithfield Foods’s payout ratio is 48.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on SFD. Zacks Research lowered shares of Smithfield Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Smithfield Foods in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on Smithfield Foods from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Smithfield Foods in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Smithfield Foods from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Smithfield Foods

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Smithfield Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in Smithfield Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Group One Trading LLC bought a new stake in shares of Smithfield Foods during the first quarter worth about $31,000.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc (NASDAQ: SFD) is one of the world’s largest pork processors and hog producers. Founded in 1936 in Smithfield, Virginia, the company has grown from a regional ham producer into a fully integrated food company offering a broad range of fresh pork, value-added meats and prepared foods. Its product portfolio includes bacon, ham, sausage, ribs and deli meats marketed under well-known brands such as Smithfield®, Nathan’s Famous® and Eckrich®.

Smithfield operates a network of hog production facilities, processing plants and distribution centers across the United States, Europe and Latin America.