Rising Input Costs Will Undermine Inflated Chicken Market Valuations

Key Takeaways

• Strong global chicken demand and emphasis on value-added products may lead to over-optimistic growth and margin expectations if market conditions shift or consumer trends change.
  
• Rising labor costs, input volatility, and increasing regulatory pressures could drive up expenses and compress margins beyond what current forecasts assume.
  
• Strategic investments in brands, prepared foods, and global capacity, paired with operational efficiencies and strong financial discipline, position Pilgrim's Pride for resilient, diversified growth.

Catalysts

Produces, processes, markets, and distributes fresh, frozen, and value-added chicken and pork products to retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators in the United States, Europe, and Mexico.

• The company and the broader industry are benefiting from robust growth in global chicken demand, both due to expanding middle classes in emerging markets and the growing affordability gap between chicken and other proteins like beef and pork. If investors are overestimating the durability or pace of this demand – for instance by overlooking potential substitution pressure from alternative proteins or cyclical demand slowdowns – it could result in unrealistically high revenue growth expectations.
  
• There is an acceleration of investments and expansion into value-added, branded, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat chicken products, supported by recent facility buildouts (such as the Walker County Prepared Foods plant in Georgia and Mexico Prepared Foods expansions). If the market is assuming these investments will yield sustained, double-digit margin improvements and that consumer preference for convenience and value-added chicken will persist undiminished, future earnings and net margin projections could be overly optimistic.
  
• Despite ongoing investments in cost efficiency, supply chain control, and automation, the company continues to face secular headwinds from rising labor costs, persistent industry labor shortages, and potential tightening of immigration policies, particularly in the U.S. Overlooking the impact of these pressures could result in underestimated operating expense growth and overstated future net margins.
  
• The industry and Pilgrim's Pride remain exposed to commodity input volatility (such as corn, soybean meal, and FX fluctuations in Mexico) and are highly sensitive to changes in global supply/demand for grains and proteins. Current low grain prices may not persist, and a market assumption that input costs will remain favorable could lead to overvalued EBITDA and earnings assumptions.
  
• Increased global scrutiny regarding environmental impact, animal welfare, and sustainability is generating higher compliance costs and potential regulatory risks. If current valuations disregard the potential for escalating compliance costs or margin compression due to carbon taxes or consumer shifts toward plant-based alternatives, future earnings could fall short of expectations.

Pilgrim's Pride Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Pilgrim's Pride's revenue will grow by 1.5% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will shrink from 6.8% today to 4.6% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $865.7 million (and earnings per share of $3.91) by about August 2028, down from $1.2 billion today. However, there is a considerable amount of disagreement amongst the analysts with the most bullish expecting $1.1 billion in earnings, and the most bearish expecting $759.1 million.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 16.3x on those 2028 earnings, up from 9.5x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Food industry at 20.8x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 0.18% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 6.78%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Pilgrim's Pride Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Sustained global and domestic demand for chicken, driven by its relative affordability compared to other proteins and ongoing consumer trends toward value/stretching food budgets, could support stable or increasing revenues and limit downside risk even if overall protein consumption plateaus.
  
• Pilgrim's Pride is investing heavily in capacity expansion, prepared foods, innovation, and branded offerings (such as Just Bare and Gold Kist), which are showing significant above-category growth and lead to portfolio diversification; this positions the company to capture higher-margin revenue streams, potentially boosting long-term earnings.
  
• Ongoing operational efficiencies, focus on automation, production optimization, and the consolidation of manufacturing networks (particularly in Europe and Mexico) may reduce per-unit costs, lift margins, and enhance overall profitability over time.
  
• Strategic expansion and capex in growth markets (Mexico, Europe, prepared foods in the U.S.) provide revenue diversification and aim to reduce volatility, which could underpin more stable multi-year cash flows and profitability figures than might be expected during cyclical downturns.
  
• The company maintains a strong balance sheet, low leverage, and ample liquidity, supplemented by disciplined capital allocation (including opportunistic debt repurchases and special dividends) that enable continued investment in growth initiatives-potentially supporting resilience in earnings and investor returns even amid market headwinds.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of $48.625 for Pilgrim's Pride based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $57.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $40.0.
  
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $19.0 billion, earnings will come to $865.7 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 16.3x, assuming you use a discount rate of 6.8%.
  
• Given the current share price of $49.32, the analyst price target of $48.62 is 1.4% lower. The relatively low difference between the current share price and the analyst consensus price target indicates that they believe on average, the company is fairly priced.
  
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.