Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the fourth-quarter and fiscal year 2025 Pilgrim's Pride earnings conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions) At the company's request, this call is being recorded. Please note that the slides referenced during today's call are available for download from the Investors section of the company's website at www.pilgrims.com. (Operator Instructions)

I would now like to turn the conference call over to Andrew Rojeski, Head of Strategy, Investor Relations and Sustainability for Pilgrim's Pride.

Good morning and thank you for joining us today as we review our operating and financial results for the fourth-quarter ended on December 28, 2025. Yesterday afternoon, we issued a press release providing an overview of our financial performance for the quarter and the year, including a reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures we may discuss. A copy of the release is available on our website at ir.pilgrims.com, along with the slides for reference. These items also have been filed as Form 8-Ks and are available online at sec.gov.

Fabio Sandri, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Matt Galvanoni, Chief Financial Officer, will present on today's call.

Before we begin our prepared remarks, I would like to remind everyone of our Safe Harbor disclaimer. Today's call may contain certain forward-looking statements that represent our outlook and current expectations as of the day of this release. Other additional factors not anticipated by management may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Further information concerning these factors have been provided in yesterday's press release, our Form 10-K and our regular filings with the SEC.

I would now like to turn the call over to Fabio Sandri.

Thank you, Andy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. So for the fiscal year 2025, we established new financial milestones as net revenues reached $18.5 billion and adjusted EBITDA rose to $2.3 billion. Our adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.3%. In the US, consistent execution of our strategies, along with strong chicken demand bolstered our demand. Demand for our key customers grew significantly over the category average for the year.

Our brand building accelerated as the combined Retail sales of Just BARE across Fresh and Prepared exceeded $1 billion, further diversifying our portfolio and resonating with consumers. Operational excellence efforts improved efficiencies in processing and live operations in Big Bird, mitigating commodity cutout volatility throughout the year.

Given these efforts, the US grew both in top line and bottom line. Europe completed several projects to enhance the efficiency of its manufacturing footprint, consolidated back-office support and optimized mix and innovation.

Key customer partnerships strengthened as sales and volume both increased compared to last year. Our portfolio of key brands continue to grow, further diversifying our portfolio. Based on these efforts, margins and overall adjusted EBITDA continue to improve.

Mexico grew sales through increased sales volumes of branded offerings across Fresh and Prepared and growth with key customers despite commodity pricing volatility. Equally important, we initiated a series of investments in both Fresh and Prepared to drive profitable growth while reducing the volatility of our business.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, we reported net revenues of $4.5 billion. We have adjusted EBITDA of $450 million, and our adjusted EBITDA margin was 9.2%. Our Q4 results reflect the robust nature of our strategies to drive strong margins during changing market conditions.

In the US, Fresh increased market share through continued focus on quality, service and innovation. Our fresh business improved efficiencies, both in plant and live operations. Prepared Foods continue to drive category-leading growth across Retail and foodservice, further diversifying our portfolio. Investments to grow our presence in key customers, increased capacity in value-added and enhanced operational efficiency continue to progress as planned.

In Europe, we increased overall adjusted EBITDA compared to the same quarter prior year. Our Fresh operations drove the majority of the gains through improved productivity and enhanced mix. Key customer demand was stable, while our portfolio of key brands continue to grow.

Mexico faced difficult circumstances given increased imports of animal-based proteins and unbalanced fundamentals in the live market. Our diversified efforts continue to gain traction as branded Fresh and Prepared offerings both rose compared to last year.

Turning to supply. USDA indicated that ready-to-cook production for the US rose 2.1% year-over-year in 2025, driven by increased headcount, improved live performance and higher average live weights. Egg sets were higher than 2024, giving a more productive layer flock and record hatchery utilization.

Hatchability improved sequentially in Q4 with seasonality and a younger flock but are still below -- the five-year average. Chick placements were higher throughout the entire quarter compared to last year. After peaking in Q3, live weights declined and ended the fourth quarter consistent with prior year levels.

Looking forward, USDA reports a 1.9% year-over-year decline in the layer flock in January 2026, alongside a 3.1% drop in pullet placements compared to Q4 of 2024. Given these factors, along with other considerations, the most recent USDA estimates suggest moderate production growth of 1% in 2026 compared to last year.

As for overall protein availability, USDA projects growth of 1.5% in 2026 with challenges in the beef production, partially compensated by higher beef imports. From a demand standpoint, consumer sentiment remains low given continued economic uncertainty. Inflation for food at home and away from home continue to impact consumers' available income. Nonetheless, chicken's affordability was exceptionally appealing across channels and categories.

In Retail, consumers continue to stretch their budgets through more frequent trips with smaller basket sizes. Within the channel, the meat department continues to lead performance as it has remain a key priority for consumers.

Chicken experienced volume growth across all cuts versus prior quarter. Boneless, skinless breast prices decreased 1% compared to last quarter, while prices of other proteins rose, especially ground beef that is setting new all-time highs.

As a matter of fact, when compared to two years ago, prices of boneless at Retail was reduced by 1.7%, while prices of ground beef have increased 22%. As a result, record pricing spreads emerged, further strengthening demand for chicken. Similar to boneless breast, dark meat from boneless thighs also continued to experience significant growth.

Deli increased slightly versus last year as velocity more than offset changes in mix, distribution and pricing. Consumers also look for convenience. And in the frozen chicken category, we saw significant growth with continued strength in velocity.

In foodservice, rising costs associated with dining out continue to pressure overall restaurant traffic, particularly in the full-service formats. However, growth in QSRs and non-commercial channels compensated for these declines, supported by operators' continued strategic focus on chicken through value offerings, limited time promotions and menu innovation.

Chicken-centric QSRs are leveraging the protein's affordability to drive traffic and engagement, outperforming the broader dining sector. Within foodservice, boneless dark meat volumes are growing at double-digit rates across all segments. Wings are gaining momentum and tenders continue to deliver steady, consistent growth.

In exports, industry volumes accelerated during Q4. Within (technical difficulty) -- , demand was primarily driven from the Southeast Asia and Mexico. Pricing remained high relative to historical levels and continues to be elevated in the first quarter of 2026. While trade disruptions have impacted certain markets given the High PathAI outbreaks, the overall effect has been relatively muted on both pricing and volumes as most US trading partners quickly limit restrictions to either the county or specific zones.

As a result, trade simply shifts from other locations outside the impacted area during the restriction period. Moving forward, we expect exports to remain strong and well diversified across markets.

Turning to feed inputs. Corn moved marginally higher in Q4 compared to previous quarter. However, prices moderated in January as the US corn realized new records in harvest area, yield and total supply. While record demand currently exists, corn ending stocks are still expected to increase to 2.2 billion bushels, creating the highest stock-to-use ratio since 2019.

Soybeans and soybean meal rallied in Q4 given the resumption of US soybean sales to China, strong domestic interest and export demand for soybean meal. Potential upside appears limited given favorable weather in South America for soybean production and relatively slow pace of US soybean exports.

Since shipments are below average, the USDA anticipates ending stocks will rise by 350 million bushels, up 7% versus prior year. Global soybean stocks and processing capacity are also expected to increase, generating ample supplies of meal. Global wheat stocks continue to be well supplied and production increased by 41 metric tons versus prior year.

Every major producer experienced above-average crops, reducing the risk of physical disruption in shipments. Additional tailwinds may emerge from increased wheat acreage planted in the UK.

Within the US, our diversified Fresh portfolio increased volume compared to the same period last year as consumers continue to seek affordability offerings for their meal occasions across Retail and foodservice. Our higher attribute differentiated offerings in case-ready accelerated its marketplace presence as volumes to key customers increased nearly 2 times the category.

Sales and profitability rose compared to last year from sustained growth. Small Bird also realized similar success as volumes to QSR remain robust despite a slow market for bone-in chicken and whole birds. Given continued market shift to boneless cuts, extensive key customer partnerships and growth aspirations, we will evaluate and adjust our portfolio to match demand accordingly.

In Big Bird, commodity cutout values fell nearly 20% compared to last year. Nonetheless, the business was able to improve its efficiencies in live operations and in production. Equally important, we further leverage our position as the leading supplier of NAE meat to support our robust growth of value-added offerings. To that end, Big Bird will continue to increase supplies to our internal prepared foods, reducing volatility and enhancing margins for our portfolio.

During the quarter and the beginning of 2026, our team also undertook a variety of projects to strengthening our key customer partnerships and enhance operational excellence, including investments within Big Bird to increase our portioning capacity and differentiated cuts. Through these efforts, our team managed through planned downtime and adjusted production across locations accordingly to ensure sufficient availability, maintain quality and uphold service levels.

In Prepared Foods, sales grew 18% compared to the same period last year, giving branded growth across Retail and foodservice. Just BARE momentum continues to accelerate market share in Retail. It rose nearly 300 basis points compared to the same period last year. Equally important, it has the highest velocity of any brand within the frozen chicken. Further growth opportunities exist through increased distribution.

Our innovation and approach to bold flavors under the Pilgrim's brand also continues to receive accolades as People's Food Award recognized our Cheesy Jalapeno Nugget line as a category winner.

In foodservice, we continue to build our presence, giving continued growth with distributors, national accounts and schools. Our investment in the new prepared facility in Georgia to meet demand for our fully cooked offerings remain on schedule.

Turning to Europe. Consumer sentiment continues to be relatively subdued. Nonetheless, we improved our profitability and maintained stable demand compared to the same period last year, even consistent execution of our strategies.

Within Retail, chilled meals and fresh offerings were among the fastest-growing categories. As such, our chicken business drove profitable growth, led by our differentiated Pro 3 offerings at select customers. Our added value business remained steady, whereas pork experienced challenges from excess supply as animal health issues emerging in Spain, triggering export restrictions in the EU.

Despite these challenges, our team maintained volume and increased profitability compared to last year. Our diversification efforts through key brands continue to progress as overall sales and volumes rose compared to last year. Fridge Raiders increased share yet again, given the effectiveness of recent changes to pricing and packaging.

The momentum for the rollover continues to accelerate from additional distribution with new customers. The Richmond brand was challenged by low-cost private label offerings, but recent investments in promotional and innovation activity has been beneficial in resuming our growth trajectory. We continue to develop our innovation pipeline in close collaboration with our key customers.

To that end, we have created a variety of new platforms in chilled meals focused on diet, health and ethnic offerings. To date, market acceptance has been promising, given incremental distribution awards and consumer interest.

In foodservice, visits fell at QSRs given concern regarding affordability. As a result, our volumes were impacted, especially during the late half of the Q4. To reverse this trend, several of our QSR customers reignited promotional activity during 2026.

In Mexico, Challenging market circumstances arose in Q4 given increased imports of animal-based protein. As a result, the short-term supply of meat and poultry in Mexico increased to levels not previously experienced. These conditions were further amplified by weakened market fundamentals in the live commodity market as improved growing conditions, increased supply.

Nonetheless, we continue to drive our strategies, growing volume in Retail, QSRs and food service channels compared to last year. We also increased volumes by double digits in our fresh branded portfolio versus Q4 of 2024.

Just bear continues to be extremely well received as sales have grown more than 2 times compared to last year. Similarly, repair sales volumes increased by 8% versus last year, led by key customers in foodservice and QSR.

Based on these efforts, we continue to diversify our portfolio and reduce the volatility for our business. Despite these short-term challenges, we continue to have growth ambitions in Mexico, given its long-term growth potential, status as a net importer of animal protein and effectiveness of our strategies. Our growth plans will further mitigate the volatility of our portfolio, resulting in higher, more resilient earnings profile.

We have already begun implementation of our plan. In Fresh, our efforts to build domestic supply creates national distribution capabilities and diversify our geographical presence remain on schedule with growth in the South region in Veracruz and in the Peninsula region in Merida.

In Prepared, we are doubling our capacity of fully cooked products through the expansion of our facility in Porvenir. We anticipate our increased capacity coming online during the second quarter, further enabling growth for the second half of the year.

Our growth intentions in Mexico are not isolated. And overall prospects for chicken remains strong globally, given relative affordability, emerging trends in consumer preferences and healthy attributes. As such, our growth investments previously announced in the US can further capitalize on these trends reinforce our strategies and strengthening our competitive advantage.

Given this environment, our portfolio will also continue to evolve. To support key customer growth in Fresh, we are converting one of our commodity Big Bird plant to a case-ready plant. We expect this conversion to become operational during the first half of 2026.

To support the expansion of Prepared Foods, we will install equipment upgrades, modify our plant layouts and Big Bird, leveraging our internal supply of differentiated NAE portion raw materials.

Regardless of these investments, we fully expect to remain consistent in our quality and service levels given our extensive network of facilities and overall supply chain capabilities. More importantly, we will have to 45 our key customer partnerships and improve operational efficiencies, which will reduce volatility, enhance margins and drive profitable growth.

In sustainability, our journey continues. We've made significant headway in the reduction of our carbon-based direct and indirect emission intensity used for processing compared to last year. External agencies continue to recognize progress in environmental and social manner as our scores improved compared to last year.

Improvements in the team member development continue to be exceptionally well received as over 2,300 team members or their dependent have signed up for our Better Futures program of which 780 have begun their selected academic pathway.

With that, I would like to ask our CFO, Matt Galvanoni, to discuss our financial results.

Thank you, Fabio. Good morning, everyone. For the fourth quarter of 2025, net revenues were $4.52 billion versus $4.37 billion a year ago with adjusted EBITDA of $415.1 million and a margin of 9.2% compared to $525.7 million and a 12% margin in Q4 last year.

For fiscal year 2025, net revenues were $18.5 billion versus $17.9 billion in fiscal 2024, growth of 3.5%, while increasing adjusted EBITDA by 2.5% from $2.21 billion in fiscal 2024 to $2.27 billion this year, after back years with adjusted EBITDA margins greater than 12%.

Adjusted EBITDA in the US for Q4 came in at $274.2 million with adjusted EBITDA margin at 10.6%. Our US business continued its momentum in the quarter in Fresh Retail and with QSR key customers, driving above category growth in these categories. Big Bird achieved further operational improvements.

However, we face year-over-year commodity market pricing headwinds negatively impacting profitability. Our Prepared Foods business continued its momentum of branded product sales growth with both Retail and foodservice customers, driving year-over-year profitability improvement in the quarter.

For the fiscal year, US net revenues were $11 billion versus $10.6 billion in fiscal 2024 with adjusted EBITDA of $1.63 billion and a 14.8% margin compared to $1.56 billion and a 14.7% margin last year. The US business maintained its margin profile through increasing sales volumes and delivering operational efficiency.

In Europe, adjusted EBITDA in Q4 was $131.4 million versus $117.1 million in 2024, a 12.2% increase. For the full year, Europe's adjusted EBITDA improved 11.4% to $453.1 million in 2025 from $406.9 million in 2024. Europe drove improved profitability with growth in poultry sales and due the impact of a series of operating efficiencies implemented over the last few years.

Our European business has streamlined organizational structure and focus on innovative offerings has positioned it to partner more efficiently with our key customers in the region.

We recognized approximately $31 million of restructuring charges during the year, down from $93 million in '24. While we continue to pursue efficiency measures, we anticipate the majority of these charges for these programs are behind us.

Mexico made $9.5 million in adjusted EBITDA in Q4 compared to $36.9 million last year. When considering the full year, Mexico made $186.7 million in adjusted EBITDA or an 8.8% margin falling short of last year's 11.8% margin. Mexico experienced lower market pricing in the fourth quarter, driven by higher availability of imported animal-based protein.

Although we did record $77 million in litigation-related settlement charges, our GAAP SG&A expenses in the fourth quarter were lower than last year, primarily due to a decrease in legal settlement expenses and cost efficiencies realized in Europe. For the full year, SG&A expenses were flat to last year with slightly lower legal settlement costs being offset by higher brand marketing investments.

Net interest expense for the year was $110 million. Currently, we forecast our 2026 net interest expense to be between $115 million and $125 million. Our full year 2025 effective tax rate was 27.9%. We recorded a discrete tax item in the fourth quarter related to a catch-up for US state unitary taxes which will not reoccur next year.

As such for 2026, we anticipate our effective tax rate to approximate 25%. We have a strong balance sheet, and we'll continue to emphasize cash flows from operating activities management of working capital and disciplined investment in high-return projects.

As of the end of the year, our net debt totaled approximately $2.45 billion with a leverage ratio of less than 1.1 times our last 12 months adjusted EBITDA. Our liquidity position remains very strong. At the end of the fiscal year, we had over $1.8 billion of total cash and available credit. We have no short-term immediate cash requirements, with our bonds maturing between 2031 and 2034, and our US credit facilities not expiring until 2028.

We finished the year spending $711 million of CapEx included in our 2025 capital spending where the growth projects in Mexico, the Big Bird plant conversion to support a key Retail customer, early progress in our new Prepared Foods facility in Walker County, Georgia, to support our Just BARE brand growth plan and other projects that Fabio previously mentioned.

The Big Bird plant conversion in the Mexican projects are on track to be completed by April. Currently, we forecast 2026 CapEx spending to be between $900 million and $950 million as we progress through these and the other projects to support Prepared Foods growth previously noted by Fabio.

As mentioned in the past, our sustaining capital spend approximate $400 million per year. We will continue to follow our disciplined approach to capital allocation as we look to profitably grow the company and will continue to align investment priorities with our overall strategies of portfolio diversification, focus on key customers, operational excellence and commitment to team member health and safety.

Operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the call for questions.

(Operator Instructions) Ben Theurer, Barclays.

Fabio, Matt, two quick ones. So number one, maybe just on the current growing conditions, and you laid it out in your prepared remarks what kind of like the cutout levels and pricing is compared to historic levels and particularly versus the last two years. So as we look into the first quarter and with hatchability coming down, how much of that would you say is like related to just the genetic issue coming back up? Or is it more weather related, just given the cold weather we had over the last couple of weeks, even in areas where chickens are grown. So just about the market dynamics right now and how we should think about the supply side for 1Q?

Yes. Thank you, Ben. Yes, when we look at the supply, and we always start with the breeding flock. And when you see the size of the breeding flock, we are with a total number that is down 1.9% year-over-year. So we have less breeders.

But I think in terms of age, they are younger, which will generate more eggs and help on the hatchability. But nonetheless, it's a smaller number. Given that input and some other factors like the weather and the seasonality, I think USDA is projecting the growth of supply in chicken for the Q1 at only 1.2%. In total for the year, that will be only 1%. I think the hatchability issue is part of this breed that we have.

And there's a lot of questions about breed. And I think the important thing for us is that we look at the overall profitability of the bird, not only one trade or another. So when you look at the profitability of the bird, we look at, of course, hatchability but we look at conversions and we look at yield.

And as of today, Big Bird, despite having hatchability that's below the five year or below previous years, it still have the better yield and the better performance in terms of feed conversion in other birds. So I don't expect any significant changes in the breed. Of course, there is always new breeds coming online but it takes time for the new bridge to roll out.

Okay. Perfect. And then my second question, just around like within capital allocation, obviously CapEx. You've mentioned the $900 million to $950 million. That's a good $200 million increase versus last year and kind of like brings us to $0.5 billion investment for the year versus sustaining.

So as you kind of like laid the land in terms of these projects, the Big Bird conversion, things in Mexico, Prepared Foods. What else is in the pipeline? I know you've made some announcements in Mexico a couple of weeks ago. So just help us understand framing that CapEx for now? And also how much of that CapEx kind of like carries then potentially into 2027 as you roll out more projects just to think about like the path of CapEx beyond 2026?

Great point. And I think we're always looking for the trends in the market and how can we support our key customers. And we can improve our portfolio, right? So in that regard, we're always looking to grow our Prepared Foods. And I think we mentioned how outstanding we have results, especially because of the Just BARE.

So we are building that new facility in Georgia. And that will take investments that started last year. It's going to take 2026 and we'll roll out to 2027. In Mexico, as we mentioned, we are also diversifying our geography, and we are growing in regions where we are not in. Typically, in Mexico, we are in the Northern region and in the Central region, we were not present in the South region and in the Peninsula and are increasing our investments in those two regions. And that is smaller and it's every year as we want to grow steady in those regions. So we will have some investments in 2027.

On the conversion to increase our support to a key customer, it's going to be all done during this year and the changes on the -- so internal supply of meat from our Big Bird to our Prepared Foods will be all done this year.

I think the only thing that we can have for 2027, as we mentioned, we are seeing this trend of change of bone in Small Bird to a more boneless. I think we all discussed about the sandwich wars many quarters ago, we've been discussing that, and we're seeing that trend, and we may convert one Small Bird plant to a more deboning plant rather than a bone-in plant.

Peter Galbo, Bank of America.

Fabio and Matt, maybe just to pick up on Ben's question on the, I guess, the rally we've seen to start January in commodity prices. Just trying to think about -- and I know it's a hard crystal ball but like the sustainability of that, given some of it is the tailwinds to the category and other protein -- competing proteins being lower, versus kind of the storm impact and maybe that's having an upward pressure on prices.

Just how do you think about maybe the sustainability of some of the price move we've seen into what is going to be historically and even seasonally stronger period?

Yes. Thank you, Peter. We are seeing several trends supporting the demand for chicken. Starting with overall, we're seeing these macronomical indicators that showing that the consumers have been watching their spending closely, and have growing concerns about the inflation. So as the inflation in food away from home is outpacing the food at home, consumers are looking for ways to save and they are moving to Retail.

So when did we go to the Retail, we see that they have more frequent trips and lower baskets and chicken demand has increased overall because, as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, compared to last quarter prices in Retail for bone-less breast has gone down 1%, while we see all the other competing protein prices going up.

I think that created -- as we mentioned, the highest spread on record. If you look at the prices of chicken compared to the prices of beef, we will have a spread of close to $2 per pound and that is increasing the demand for chicken in the Retail.

When you go to the foodservice, despite this lower food traffic, I think the foodservice operators are trying to attract consumers with promotional activity. I just mentioned the sandwich wars. And we're seeing the many penetration of chicken going up in the foodservice. So we saw also a growth in the foodservice in the range of 2% to 3%.

So I don't think that we're going to see change in those Big Birds during 2026. And as I mentioned, in terms of supply, with FDA, because of the size of the breeding flock and the state where we are in, in terms of hatchability and the high utilization on the hatcheries, we are seeing the supply growing only 1%. So I think the trends are very positive, especially for the grilling season.

Great. Okay. And Matt, maybe just a couple of cleanups. If you could help us -- I think you gave the interest, tax and CapEx but maybe anything on G&A for the year and then how you're just thinking about the SG&A levels, which continue to be pretty impressive how we might think about that for 2016?

Yes. No problem, Peter. So from a D&A perspective, depreciation and amortization, we're looking to track about $520 million for the year for '26. 2025 was about $460 million, and then SG&A, what I would tell you is kind of think about it sort of $140 million a quarter. I think that will help kind of get you guys pretty close, maybe just a little north of that for the full year using that $140 million a quarter.

Andrew Strelzik, BMO Capital Markets.

This is Ben covering for Andrew. So I'll start with Mexico. Just if you could dig a little deeper on what happened there during the quarter. And then we're wondering maybe what happens moving forward in the first half of '26. Is the supply-demand situation cleaned up there? Or should we expect some lingering pressure? Just trying to understand the dental cadence there?

Yes, sure. And as we've been saying, Mexico can be very volatile quarter-over-quarter. But on the year, we've always seen growth and very positive results there. In Q4, I think we have a series of events. Q4 typically is a good quarter for Mexico.

But during this quarter, we saw some shifts in the export market. And Mexico was the most attractive market for, especially breast meat from Brazil and other locations, and we saw a significant increase in the exports to Mexico on the breast meat. We also saw a significant increase in pork exports to Mexico, which increased a lot the supply of meat. That impacted more the Northern region.

At the same time, in the Central region, that includes the Mexico City, we saw the growing conditions very favorable for chicken. And after a strong first semester, we saw that the supply of chicken increasing in that region. So we have the two regions affected by different aspects. So we saw this increase in supply in the center to impact the live market prices. And because of that, we saw the weaker Q4 than anticipated.

That's why we are creating the portfolio they are creating and we're talking about growing to different regions. So growing in the South region in Veracruz and growing the Peninsula because these areas are more insulated from the North and from the Central micro dynamics.

On the lingering effects, I think we are seeing now the market more into the normal season patterns we're seeing slowdown in the growing conditions in the center. And we always mentioned that there are several small players when the profitability is very high in that region, they come to the market. And when the profitability starts going down, they exit that market, and we are seeing that. So we are seeing a more stable supply and demand. And on the North put as well. We're seeing that all the freezers are completely full in the North region.

So I don't think that there will be any more increase in the exports to that region. So we see the volatility in Mexico, and that's why we are evolving our portfolio to be a more resilient earnings.

Got it. That's very helpful. And then my last question will be about the EU UK business. Very strong performance during the fourth quarter there, over -- well over 6% operating margin. Was that -- how much of that was seasonally driven? I guess is the first part of the question.

And then you pointed out in the 10-K, in particular, strength in domestic demand for fresh products. So if you could kind of tie that into the volume strength and profitability strength in the EU and UK. And just thinking about starting 2026, I mean, if it wasn't seasonally driven in the fourth quarter, would we expect 6%-plus margin to sustain there? So that's my last question.

Yes. Thank you. Yes, there is always seasonality in the UK, especially on the pork operation. But what we are seeing in Europe and is no different than other places of the heart is the strength of the chicken business. So we're seeing the affordability, the availability and also our strategies, and we are resonating with the key customers and consumers with a differentiated offering.

So we are seeing a strengthening in the chicken business in the region. But I think there is seasonality in Q4 is typically stronger in Europe than other quarters. So I think we will see significantly improvement quarter-over-quarter within this seasonality. So I think we will have a better quarter in Q1 that we have the same a year ago in Q1.

Although we are seeing some weakness in QSR, that started during Q4 because of, again, the prices of specialty beef, our business in the region on the QSRs were a little bit impacted on the traffic but we are seeing some promotional activity on those QSRs. SO we expect an improvement during this Q1. Thank you.

Pooran Sharma, Stephens.

This is Adam on for Pooran. So obviously, the beef environment continues to be a tailwind for chicken. In ours there's big moving pieces there, one Mexican cattle imports; and two, the pace of heifer retention. Just wanted to get opinion on how those two factors on the two extremes, slow versus aggressive heifer retention and the resumption or lack of cattle imports could impact chicken demand and therefore, boiler margins?

Yes. I think when we look at the Retail, and I mentioned that we saw the spreads at the highest number ever, right? And I think this is something that's been growing over time. And I think 2025 and 2026 has been exacerbated by the effect that you just mentioned on the price of the live animals here in the US and some capacity reductions in the beef industry.

I think it's very difficult to look at the sensitivity on how much that delta needs to be to trigger trade downs. But I think what we are seeing is that the consumer really impacted in the inflation, especially on the food away from home, and we're seeing all this demand for chicken in the Retail.

And I think it's the same in the foodservice, as I mentioned, is a matter of availability because when you look at the USDA expectations for 2026 is for the production of beef going down. So it would depend a lot more on the imports and what type of cuts will come from these imports from South America and other regions.

So we don't expect the prices of beef to reduce significantly during 2026, as we mentioned because of the retention that have started. So I think that could be something that we will see in 2027. But I think overall, we are seeing a very strong demand for chicken both in Retail and foodservice.

That's helpful. And for my follow-up, I was wondering -- I think you touched on it briefly in your prepared remarks but if you could just give a brief state of the union of the disease pressure you're seeing like in Spain with -- I know we've seen somewhere between like 100 to 150 positive cases of ASF in Spain but -- anything else you can add there would be great.

Yes. Of course, our European business has been impacted because of that. I think what we are seeing is the ASF in Spain, Spain is one of the largest producers in the world of pork. And because of the ASF, they being banned from exporting to China because that those exports don't go to China, they end up in the European region, typically in UK and that is generating a lot of supply, especially for -- in the sausage business.

And that is creating some impact in our branded business because our Richmond brand, it's a well-established brand in UK, when it's competing with this external meat and all these private label sausage, it end up impacting in prices.

And that's why we mentioned that the Richmond brand was facing some challenges during Q4 but we expect some promotional activity and the resilience of that brand is amazing. We've been growing year-over-year. So we expect that impact to reduce. Now how long that is going to continue on the ASF in Spain? And how is that going to impact long term the UK?

I don't think that, that is something that we can foresee. But I don't believe that it's going to be a long-term impact as we are seeing the herd being reduced throughout Europe.

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

I wanted to go back to your comments about foodservice in the US You talked about the consumer shifting to Retail, which is a headwind for the channel but you continue to grow nicely. So just seeing if you could provide more detail on the demand you're seeing there. Any nuance between QSR versus others? And how much can new business wins continue to offset any broader industry slowdown there? Or how do you think about lapping the strength that you've had over the past year in innovation and LTOs?

Yes. Thank you, Leah. Yes. Well, again, like I mentioned, the foodservice traffic is a challenge and has been challenged over last year, and the foodservice operators are looking for promotional activity to drive traffic. When we drill down into the segments, what we are seeing is the slowdown in the full service restaurants, compensated by increases in the non-commercial especially hospitality, schools and growth in the national accounts.

When we look at the promotional activity has been even the known chicken QSRs are doing a lot of promotions with chicken. And we saw the increase in the overall industry close to 3%. So we don't expect that to change during 2026. For the factors that we already mentioned on the availability of lean beef on the burgers, and the availability of other proteins and the affordability and versatility of chicken.

Okay. Great. And then just for my second question, just wanted to ask about just bear a little bit more. You've seen some nice acceleration across prepared foods overall. But just bear has been really strong for you with the share gains that it's had I know we're still waiting on that new plant to open.

But how do you think about growth for that brand over the coming year, considering distribution and velocity. And then you think ultimately, longer term, how do you think about continuing to increase brand awareness or helpful penetration there?

Thank you. So it's a great point. And I think the brand awareness is still not at the levels of national expansion that we expected. But we are seeing that Just BARE is the number one in terms of velocity where we are. And I think that's very important for the retailers.

As we are discussing with our key customers on the distribution side, if you have Just BARE in your shelves, you can see that the shelf is turning faster than with any other segment. I think it's innovation, which is going to play for us to continue to grow.

I think we have a very strong core products but we can innovate and stretch that brand to some other different being chop and form because it's a whole muscle today, but there's a lot of opportunities in the chop and form. And the Just BARE brand promise is exactly what the consumer is looking for today, which is a clean label, no additions of antibiotics or any other items that the consumer is looking today at the labels and compare it, and that's why that is resonating so well with the consumer.

So it's gains in distribution because we're still not very national. We went from 1% to 13% market share in a matter of five years but still have a lot of distribution to gain and the velocity that will continue because of how the brand and the brand promise is resonating with our consumers.

Thomas Henry, Heather Jones Research.

On Europe, could you elaborate on any trends besides the seasonality driving the strong volume performance? And any expectations of these continuing to '26?

Yes. I think it's a normal seasonality. We see the end of the year, a lot of promotion activity in terms of hams and bacon and other cuts. But as long-term trend, what we are seeing throughout the year is the growth of chicken. That's more important than the seasonality.

I think the consumer is facing the same challenges in Europe that they are facing in the United States on the inflation. And when you look at the breakdown of the growth in total grocery. Grocery is growing 4%, but chicken is growing 8% to 10%.

So there is the seasonal effects, and we saw some growth in the fresh pork close to 5% this quarter but the long-term trend is a more growth in the chicken side. And of course, with the innovations that we are doing, the partnerships that we are doing in Europe on the mills, we're also creating some new lines that are generating great results. The mills are a very affordable way for a family to have their needs -- so I think it's something that we are investing together with key customers on differentiating, creating better experiences for our -- and differentiate in terms of technicity for the consumers.

Guiherme Palhares, Santander.

Just two quick ones. The first is where do you see today the capacity of genparents of shipping in the US. And the second one, if you could talk a bit about the new trade permit of EU towards the Brazilian chicken and whether this could have any impact from the business there?

Yes. Thank you. On the grandparents, the information we have with the USDA information when we talk about the size of the breeding flock, it improves the grandparents. And when we look at the number, it is down 1.9%. And that includes the processors and includes the grandparents.

So I don't see any -- or we don't have any information about significant increase in the grandparent size of that. On the impact of the Mercosur agreement or the UK, Europe, and Brazil, what we are seeing is the normal continuation of a long-term export from Brazil, which is one of the largest chicken exporter to Europe I think Brazil typically export breast meat, and that breast meat goes to the foodservice.

When you look at the UK consumer, they give great value to the provenance. And our chicken business and our pork business in Europe are mainly on the Retail side because we are local producers because the standards of producing in UK, both chicken and pork are higher than everywhere else in the world.

So the consumer pay a premium and they have this important trait of provenance. So when we look at the impacts of these agreements, it's more on the foodservice area. And we have a strong foodservice there that can benefit from cheaper raw material being from Thailand being from Poland or being from Brazil. So I think it is a good tailwind for our foodservice production in UK, but it doesn't have a big impact on the Retail side.

Priya Ohri-Gupta, Barclays.

Matt, the last two years, the operating cash flow before looking at changes in working capital has been pretty consistent around $1.6 billion or so -- is there any reason that we should think about '26 looking different from that?

And then secondly, just as we think about the working capital piece, what are some of the trends that we should keep in mind as to whether that will be sort of a positive or negative contribution to the cash from operations.

Thanks, Priya. Good talking to you. Generally, I don't see a major change kind of from your first question relative to everything. Of course, we are increasing our CapEx spend retention here for 2026 versus 2025 by, call it, almost $200 million. So that, of course, will come into play.

But relative to working capital, I think when you look back to 2024, right? We had a lot of kind of tailwinds for us with the large grain cost decrease in '24 versus '23. Of course, things flattened out more in '25. What we really saw there on the inventory side is we had some more purposeful increases in what I'll call whipped or finished goods because we were able to procure some cheaper breast meat at kind of opportune times, which increased some of our inventory levels.

[AR] was kind of some of that I'll call it, headwind was really more just higher sales pricing. So overall, I would say, I don't see the repeat on the negative side on the inventory that we saw in '25. Of course, we'll have to watch and see what grain does though kind of where grain sits today, we feel it should be more flattish, and then we'll just watch and monitor an AR. Hopefully, that helps.

Yes. That's really helpful. And then just one follow-up on the CapEx piece. So there's a headline just talking about $1.3 billion in investments in Mexico through 2030. So as we think going forward, I know you gave us a little bit of context into '27. But how should we think about that $1.3 billion specifically related to Mexico over '26 to '30 if you can give us some directional sense?

Yes. Thank you. I think that is a long-term vision that we have, just like I mentioned, to grow in regions where we are not and grow our prepared foods. So that includes significant growth in the South region and in the Merida region as well as the duplication of our prepared foods facilities. And in that investment is included also some investments done by growers to support that growth.

So it's not totally from us but it's because of our projects, and that will help close the gap in Mexico. Mexico is a big importer of meat, and we believe that we -- with our growth in Mexico, we can reduce the need of the imports by 35%, which helps a lot in the food security for the region.

Thank you. This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Fabio Sandri for any closing remarks.

Thank you, everyone, for attending today's call. Throughout 2025, we accelerated our performance through a leadership mindset, living our values and driving our methods. Given our teamwork, we delivered yet another strong year. 2026 started with several weather events that impacted many regions where we operate. And I'd like to thank our team members and extend my deepest appreciation for their efforts every day and their dedication to our company and our communities.

Moving forward, we must continue to drive our efforts with an unwavering focus on team member safety and well-being, product quality and sustainability. When combined with our strategy and approach, we can achieve our vision to be the best and most respected company in our industry, creating an opportunity for a better future for our team members and their families.

Equally important, we initiated the next chapter in our growth journey through investments across all regions. Based on these efforts, we can further drive profitable growth, reduce volatility and enhance margins throughout our entire portfolio.

To that end, I look forward to strengthening our legacy in 2026 and beyond. Thank you all.

The conference call has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.