Tyson Foods expects ‘record year’

The global meat company’s strong start to the year has not gone unnoticed in Wall Street, after NASDAQ observer Michael Fowlkes said Tyson enjoyed a “breakout performance​” on the US stock market.

“The stock was already trending higher ahead of its recent quarterly report, but a strong report and bullish guidance has sent shares to a new all-time high,​” said Fowlkes.

‘Record cash flows’​

Tyson Foods president and CEO Donnie Smith added that he was “really excited about what’s ahead” for the company, after the publication of the first-quarter trading results for 2016 last week.

“Fiscal 2016 is off to a very strong start in what we expect to be another record year. Solid execution across the entire team resulted in record earnings, record operating income, record margins and record cash flows. We captured $121m in total synergies for the quarter, with $61m incremental to fiscal first quarter 2015.”​

Tyson’s record operating income for the first quarter of 2016 was up by 38% to $776m, when compared to the company’s adjusted results for the same period last year.

Sales rise​

The US company is one of the biggest meat producers in the world, specialising in beef, pork and chicken. And all of its key market segments were operating at strong margins at the start of the US fiscal year.

Chicken was operating at a margin of 13.6%; prepared foods at 10.9%, with the pork segment operating at a margin of 13%.

Tyson Food said its investment in flagship brands – known as the Core 9 – was “paying off​” after volume sales increased by 4%. With sales rising, it expected to see production of chicken, beef, pork and turkey to increase by between 2-3% on last year’s levels.

Below is an infographic outlining the key data regarding Tyson Foods’ annual performance in 2015.