Tyson surprise chicken profit leads to ‘positive turnaround’

Dive Brief:

Chicken processor Tyson Foods will continue to focus on narrowing its spending and improving its “fundamentals” after growth in its chicken segment led to a “positive turnaround” for its third quarter, executives said Monday.

While lower pricing and input costs saw sales in the segment drop by 3.2% year over year, chicken saw its best third quarter profit result in eight years, executives said during the call. Chicken logged a surprising $244 million profit for the quarter, as compared to a $314 million loss in the prior year period.

The company’s priorities are to “maintain financial strength” and continue to invest in the business, interim CFO Curt Calaway said Monday during the company’s Q3 2024 earnings call, which includes honing in on capital expenditures. Capex of $263 million for the quarter ended June 29 represented a sequential decline for the sixth consecutive quarter, “reflecting our focus on controlling capital deployment while continuing to invest for profitable growth,” Calaway said.