stockrowWhat it does
Pilgrim’s Pride produces, processes, markets and distributes chicken and pork products. It sells fresh, frozen and prepared foods to grocery retailers, restaurant chains, distributors and food processors. Its products range from whole chickens and packaged cuts to nuggets, sausages, bacon and ready-to-cook meats.
The company operates in the United States, Europe and Mexico. Its European operations also sell pork and lamb products, while its Mexican business includes sales of live chickens. Products reach customers through retail, foodservice and export channels. Retail customers sell food to households; foodservice customers include restaurants and distributors serving institutions.
Pilgrim’s is vertically integrated: it manages nearly every phase of chicken production, from feed and hatcheries through processing and distribution. Its network includes growers, feed mills, hatcheries, processing plants, prepared-foods facilities and distribution centers. It also has an integrated supply chain for pork. The company says this structure helps it manage food safety and quality, control margins and serve customers.
Pilgrim’s was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Greeley. Fabio Sandri is president and chief executive officer. JBS S.A., through subsidiaries, beneficially owns 82.28% of Pilgrim’s outstanding common stock.
How it makes money
Pilgrim’s earns revenue by selling meat and prepared foods through its U.S., Europe and Mexico reporting segments. Sales include fresh products, prepared foods, exports and other products. Its fresh range includes refrigerated chicken cuts and retail-ready packs; prepared foods include products sold raw, partially cooked or fully cooked, sometimes breaded or marinated.
Total net sales increased in fiscal 2025. Net revenues were $4.65 billion in the third quarter of 2026.
Fresh products accounted for 66.3% of fiscal 2025 revenue, while prepared products accounted for 25.4%. The mix differs by region: fresh products represented 80.9% of U.S. product sales and 83.2% of Mexico product sales in 2025, while prepared foods represented 58.6% of Europe product sales.
Revenue depends on the volume sold, the prices received and, for international operations, currency translation. In 2025, U.S. segment sales rose primarily because demand for fresh products increased sales volume. Europe’s sales rose with higher volume and favorable currency translation, partly offset by lower net sales per pound. Mexico’s sales rose as higher sales per pound and volume outweighed unfavorable currency translation.
Pilgrim’s sells food through established customer channels rather than a subscription model. Demand also varies by season: chicken demand is generally greatest in spring and summer, while pork demand generally rises in summer and peaks in winter around the holidays. The company uses a variety of contracts and has reduced the share of products sold under longer-term fixed-price contracts to help manage feed-price volatility.
| Product or service | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh | $12.3 billion | 66.3% | 4.92% |
| Prepared | $4.7 billion | 25.4% | 0.22% |
| Export | $1.0 billion | 5.57% | 8.83% |
| Other | $497.8 million | 2.69% | −9.13% |
Customers and how it sells
Pilgrim’s serves grocery chains, wholesale clubs, restaurant chains, food processors and distributors. U.S. customers include Chick-fil-A, Kroger, Costco, Publix and H-E-B. In the U.K. and Europe, its customers include McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose; in Mexico, it sells to grocery chains including Wal-Mart.
Its two largest customers operate in the U.S. and together accounted for approximately 16.8% of consolidated net sales in 2025. No single customer accounted for ten percent or more of consolidated net sales in that year.
The U.S. segment generated $11.0 billion of fiscal 2025 revenue, Europe generated $5.4 billion, and Mexico generated $2.1 billion. These are reporting-segment figures rather than sales by customer location. The company also markets products in over 120 other countries, with export customers distributing products to markets including Mexico, the Middle East and Asia.
Its foodservice business principally serves chain restaurants, food processors, broad-line distributors and other institutions. Retail sales go primarily to grocery chains, wholesale clubs and other retail distributors. Customers can buy fresh meat for store counters as well as frozen and prepared products.
| Region | Revenue, FY2025 | Share | Change on the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | $10.6 billion | 57.0% | 3.79% |
| Europe | $5.3 billion | 28.6% | 4.16% |
| Mexico | $2.2 billion | 11.6% | −0.29% |
| Asia-Pacific | $329.8 million | 1.78% | 8.64% |
| Canada, Caribbean and Central America | $78.5 million | 0.42% | −11.9% |
| Africa | $54.9 million | 0.30% | 4.98% |
| South America | $30.8 million | 0.17% | 52.7% |
Suppliers and costs
Feed is a material input to Pilgrim’s chicken operations. The company makes its own formulated feed using ingredients including corn, soybean meal and wheat. In 2025, those ingredients accounted for approximately 45.9%, 33.7% and 4.6% of its feed costs, respectively. Grain prices are affected by global supply and demand, agricultural policy and weather. Pilgrim’s uses derivatives, alongside changes to its contracts and product portfolio, to manage price volatility.
The company buys one-day-old chicks from a few major breeders to establish the breeding stock for chickens it processes. It believes alternative breeder stock would be available if its current suppliers could not supply it. In the U.K., it raises some pigs itself and buys others from independent farmers.
Its production network spans growers, feed mills, hatcheries, processing and cooking plants, and distribution centers. Labor, animal welfare, energy and compliance are also relevant costs. Pilgrim’s says it offset most of its 2025 U.K. labor and animal-welfare cost increases through customer contracts and negotiations. It also invests in production yields, agricultural performance and labor efficiency.
- Revenue$18.5B
- Cost of revenue−$16.1B
- Selling, general and administrative−$713.3M
- Other operating costs−$31.4M
- Operating income$1.6B
Competitive position
Pilgrim’s competes in chicken and pork markets on price, quality, product development, branding, product range and customer service. It also competes indirectly with producers of other meats and fish, because changes in relative prices can affect what consumers buy. No individual competing companies are named in the available business descriptions.
Pilgrim’s owns or licenses brands including Pilgrim’s, Just Bare, Gold’n Plump, Moy Park and Richmond. It uses advertising, marketing and consumer research to develop brand awareness and new products. The company believes brand awareness and loyalty can support price premiums and wider distribution in some markets.
Our reading: The brands offer some differentiation, but their protection is limited by competition on price and by retailers’ own offerings. In the third quarter of 2026, Pilgrim’s said promotional activity by premium private-label sausages challenged growth of its Richmond brand.
Our reading: Vertical integration is another potential advantage because it connects production, processing and distribution, but it does not insulate Pilgrim’s from commodity cycles. The company believes integration can provide cost and quality advantages; its U.S. fresh business nevertheless faced lower commodity chicken prices and higher grain costs in the third quarter of 2026.
Growth opportunities
Pilgrim’s growth plans include expanding prepared foods, developing branded products, working with customers on distribution and investing in production efficiency. The company also seeks to broaden its mix of products and channels. In the U.S., it increased the supply of internally produced chicken to its prepared-foods business following plant upgrades, reducing reliance on outside suppliers.
In the third quarter of 2026, U.S. prepared-foods volume rose over 15% from a year earlier. The company also launched a Flaming Hot Chicken offering at selected retail and foodservice locations. In Mexico, fresh retail branded volumes rose over 40% from a year earlier, supported by increased distribution and sales execution.
Pilgrim’s completed its transition at Ellijay, Georgia, and expects to begin commissioning a new prepared-foods facility in Walker County, Georgia, early in the second half of 2027. The company says additional broiler farms will be needed to pursue European growth opportunities under its existing supply-chain capabilities and regulatory environment.
Pilgrim’s also anticipates completing its acquisition of Walker’s Deli and Sausage in early 2027. It expects the acquisition, once completed, to extend its pork value chain into sausage and broaden its retail presence. In exports, the company says the release of more U.S. states from China’s avian influenza ban creates opportunities for raw frozen chicken.
- $14.8BFY2021
- $17.5BFY2022
- $17.4BFY2023
- $17.9BFY2024
- $18.5BFY2025
Structural risks
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Commodity cycles: Earnings can be affected by fluctuations in feed-ingredient, chicken and pork prices. Pilgrim’s said lower U.S. commodity chicken prices and higher grain costs affected its fresh business in the third quarter of 2026.
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Supply and competing proteins: Chicken supply can grow faster than demand, pressuring prices. In Mexico, increased live-market supply and widely available competing proteins affected comparable third-quarter results in 2026.
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Regulation and environmental costs: Operations face health, workplace safety and environmental rules across their markets. New or more stringent requirements can require additional capital spending and operating expenses.
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Labor: Performance depends on favorable employee relations, compliance with labor laws and access to workers for production roles. Approximately 35.1% of the workforce is covered by collective bargaining agreements.
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Control and legal exposure: JBS controls a majority of the common stock and can control votes on most matters presented to shareholders. Pilgrim’s also incurred $136 million in legal settlement expenses in the second quarter of 2026, primarily related to ongoing broilers litigation.
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Trade and currency: International sales and operations can be affected by trade-policy changes, exchange rates and disruptions to shipping routes. Pilgrim’s says Middle East trade continues through alternative ports and more complex intermodal routes.
Leadership
JBS S.A., through its indirect subsidiaries, beneficially owns 82.28% of Pilgrim’s outstanding common stock and can control the vote on most matters brought before shareholders.
| Name | Role | Since | Total pay, FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fabio Sandri | President and Chief Executive Officer September 2020 to Present | — | $16.4 million |
| Matthew Galvanoni | Chief Financial Officer March 2021 to Present | 2016 | $4.5 million |
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: Pilgrim’s is a vertically integrated meat producer whose sales are anchored in fresh chicken, with prepared foods providing another route to customers and product differentiation. Its integration and brands support its business model, but feed costs, meat prices and supply cycles remain important influences on earnings. JBS’s controlling ownership is also central to how shareholder decisions are made.