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Trump Accused Meat Suppliers of Fixing Beef Prices. What Tyson’s Earnings Show.

Nov 10, 2025 09:10:00 -0500 by Evie Liu | #Consumer #Earnings Report

Tyson Foods said it expects chicken volumes to rise in fiscal 2026, driving adjusted operating income in the range of $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion. (Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

Key Points

Tyson Foods , the largest meat supplier in the U.S., posted mixed results in its fiscal fourth quarter. While its chicken business boomed, beef is still a soft spot.

That business has also been in the president’s sights. Last week, Donald Trump accused meatpackers of colluding to push beef prices higher.

Tyson’s earnings tell a different story.

For the quarter ended in September, Tyson reported adjusted earnings of $1.15 a share, handily beating the 84 cents analysts had forecast, according to FactSet. While sales grew 2.2% to $13.86 billion, they missed the $14.11 billion Wall Street had expected.

Tyson stock rose by 1.5% in Monday trading. The S&P 500 index is up 0.9%.

The chicken business was a positive. Sales rose to $4.411 billion from $4.251 billion last year, and volumes increased by 3.7%. Prices mostly remained flat. The segment posted adjusted operating income of $457 million, a 28% jump from a year ago.

Strength in the company’s chicken segment was partially due to changing consumer habits, with beef prices at record highs. The cost of uncooked beef steaks reached $12.26 per pound as of September, up from $10.89 a year ago, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Dry weather and high input costs over the past few years have forced ranchers to scale back herd sizes.

“Chicken is an affordable, high-quality protein, and our innovative value-added offerings position us uniquely to serve both retail and foodservice customers amid high beef prices,” said Tyson CEO Donnie King on Monday’s earnings call.

On the other hand, Tyson’s beef business struggled. Although a 17% increase in average price drove sales value higher, volume declined 8.4% from a year ago. The beef segment posted $94 million in adjusted operational loss. High prices weren’t enough to cover even higher costs.

President Trump last Friday called on the Department of Justice to investigate U.S. meat-packing companies, accusing them of colluding to push up beef prices.

Trump said cattle prices have fallen while beef prices remain high, and that American ranchers are “being blamed for what is being done by Majority Foreign Owned Meat Packers.”

Over the past month, futures prices for live cattle have fallen by roughly 6%, but are still 24% higher than a year ago.

“Despite high consumer prices for beef, beef packers have been losing money because the price of cattle is at record highs,” Julie Anna Potts, CEO of the Meat Institute, a trade group that represents hundreds of meat packers and processors, said last week. “For more than a year, beef packers have been operating at a loss due to a tight cattle supply and strong demand.”

Tyson sees higher sales in fiscal 2026, expecting growth in the range of 2% to 4%. Analysts polled by FactSet have been looking for sales of $56.21 billion, or a roughly 3% increase from last year. But most of that growth will come from chicken. Tyson expects fiscal 2026’s adjusted operating income in the range of $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion, mainly driven by expected income of $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion from its chicken segment. The beef business is expected to post an adjusted operating loss between $400 million and $600 million.

The company noted that domestic production of pork and beef was set to fall 3% and 2%, respectively, in fiscal 2026, citing data from the Department of Agriculture. Chicken production, meanwhile, is expected to increase 1%, according to the firm.

Write to Evie Liu at evie.liu@barrons.com and Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com