Tyson Foods’ first-quarter earnings were largely in-line with Wall Street forecasts Thursday, according to The Street.
Quarterly warnings earnings came in at $1.66 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.70 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.58 per share a year ago. However, group revenues, Tyson said, were also flat to last year at $10.185 billion, falling just shy of analysts’ estimate of an $11.04 billion tally.
“Our overall results in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 were in line with expectations,” said CEO Noel White. “With improved access to global markets resulting from recent trade developments, there are reasons to be optimistic about fiscal 2020 and beyond and we are well-positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the global marketplace.”
Tyson launched its restructuring program in response to the growing competition from global meat companies – all wanting to supply pork and other meat products to China. Millions of pigs were culled as the African Swine Fever devastated China’s pork market as well as the global food chain.
Experts warn it could take years to contain the hog-killing virus given the differing biosecurity standards on commercial pig farms and backyard smallholdings across Asia.
With China being the world’s largest pork consumer, Tyson is also hoping to make good on a pledge to Beijing to boost the import of American farm goods as part of an initial trade deal.
According to a regulatory filing, Tyson will be cutting job positions in several areas and a number of different job levels. This will result in a $44 million pretax charge related to severance pay and other employee-related costs. Most of the positions being cut are at corporate offices in Chicago and Springdale, Arkansas.
As of 12:15 p.m. ET, on the NYSE, Tyson Foods, Inc. shares are at 80.79 USD −3.34 (3.97%).
