Tyson Boosts Outlook as Protein Demand Offsets Beef Pain

(Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

Tyson Foods Inc. raised its full-year profit outlook as strong protein demand enables growth even as the struggling beef segment shows no signs of turning around.

The largest U.S. meatpacker now sees adjusted operating income between $2.2 billion and $2.4 billion in the fiscal year, up $100 million from its prior range. A greater consumer appetite for protein has supported more chicken and pork purchases, while also allowing Tyson to pass through higher beef prices to offset the impacts of costly U.S. cattle supplies.

But while Tyson’s adjusted earnings for the quarter beat analyst estimates, its beef operations posted a wider loss. The company now expects that segment to lose $350 million to $500 million in 2026, adjusting the bottom end of its range from $250 million previously.

The dimmer outlook is the latest sign that the situation for beef processors won’t quickly improve, as the U.S. cattle herd is at the smallest in 75 years. Tyson has tried to rightsize its largest segment, including by closing a Nebraska plant and cutting a Texas facility to a single shift. But any structural relief from the reduction won’t come until later quarters, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Marina Cavalcante.

That has left meatpackers like Tyson more reliant on chicken, which has been more profitable amid production efficiencies and high consumer demand for the relatively cheaper protein. Wholesale chicken breast prices in the second quarter recovered, after having dropped last fall to the lowest in more than a year. Second-quarter adjusted operating income of $523 million in Tyson’s chicken business was up 27% from the same time last year.

“We view the magnitude of the chicken beat as encouraging, along with the guidance boost for total company operating profit,” JPMorgan analysts Thomas Palmer and Elsa Evans wrote in a note.

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I have asked the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into the Meat Packing Companies who are driving up the price of Beef through Illicit Collusion, Price Fixing, and Price Manipulation. We will always protect our… — Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) November 7, 2025

The chicken business is also expected to gain further market share in the second half of the year after a plant from competitor Koch Foods Inc. was damaged in a fire, according to Piper Sandler & Co. analysts Michael Lavery and Luke Maloney.

READ MORE: DOJ Confirms Antitrust Probe of Beef Processors

Shares rose as much as 2.3% in premarket trading.

The results come as President Donald Trump has ordered the Justice Department to look into the meatpacking industry amid record beef prices. Bloomberg reported late last month that the agency had opened a criminal investigation into how meatpackers including Tyson purchase cattle from ranchers.

Consolidation in the industry — four companies control about 85% of U.S. cattle purchases, according to the Agriculture Department — has in the past raised concerns about prices.

But the severity of the current cattle shortage has sent prices so high that meatpackers are losing money on every animal they process, according to data from HedgersEdge. The Chicago futures contract for so-called live cattle that are ready for slaughter hit a fresh record high April 29.

Hopes of a quick rebuild have been dampened as more than 70% of the U.S.’s cattle are now in areas affected by dryness or drought, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data as of April 28. That limits the amount of pasture that animals can graze on and discourages ranchers from holding onto animals for breeding.

Processors could benefit from increased beef imports, which are blended into U.S. products for ground meat. But another key source of supplies, live cattle from Mexico, are likely choked off for longer as detections of the New World screwworm — a deadly cattle parasite — have recently accelerated.

Tyson ranks No. 9 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America and No. 1 among agriculture/food processing carriers.