Fitch Affirms Pilgrim's Pride Corp. at 'BBB-'; Outlook Stable

Published: 2026-05-13 05:50:12 ET PPC

Published on 05/13/2026 at 05:50 am EDT

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Pilgrim's Pride Corporation's (PPC) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and senior unsecured notes at 'BBB-'.

The Rating Outlook is Stable.

The affirmation reflects PPC's resilient operating performance, expected lower net leverage and strong liquidity position. Fitch views the company's weaker performance in 1Q26, including EBITDA margins of 6.8%, as driven by a combination of non-recurring events and expects profitability to recover over the coming quarters.

Key Rating Drivers

Standalone Credit Profile, Parent Linkage: Fitch views PPC's ratings on a standalone basis as it has the same credit profile as its parent, JBS N.V. (BBB-/Stable). A parent and subsidiary linkage exists between PPC and JBS, reflecting JBS's 82.2% ownership stake and its influence over PPC's business and financial strategies. PPC is highly strategic to JBS due to its contribution to consolidated profitability, growth prospects, and diversification. PPC represented about 32% of JBS N.V.'s consolidated EBITDA in 2024. PPC and its parent have no cross-default or acceleration clauses, or upstream guarantees.

Steady Leverage: Fitch forecasts PPC's EBITDA net leverage to be around 1.4x in 2026 which is in line with 1.3x in 2025. Fitch projects PPC will generate around USD1.7 billion in EBITDA in 2026 compared to USD2.1 billion in 2025 and USD1.9 billion in 2024. The lower EBITDA forecast for 2026 reflects non-recurring factors, including downtime associated with large capex projects, weather-related disruptions, and pricing pressure in the Big Bird business. Fitch expects margins to recover over the next three quarters.

Fitch forecasts FCF to remain positive in 2026, considering a higher capex of about USD925 million and lower cash flow from operations of around USD1.2 billion. Fitch does not expect dividend payments in 2026 given higher capex and the USD250 million tender offer for the 2033 notes completed in April. For 2027, we project a capex of around USD700 million and a resumption of dividend payments.

Resilient Business Profile: PPC's ratings are supported by its resilient business profile as one of the world's largest chicken processors, with operations in the U.S., Europe and Mexico. The company benefits from a diversified product portfolio and vertically integrated operations. Approximately half of PPC's sales are directed to food retailers, while the other half goes to the food service segment - predominantly quick-service restaurants.

Protein Outlook: The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts global meat consumption to rise by 0.8% in 2026, driven by a 2.3% increase in chicken and a 0.6% increase in pork, partly offset by a 1.4% decline in beef. Relatively stable grain costs are expected to support processing spreads and benefit protein companies globally, particularly vertically integrated protein producers. Chicken market dynamics have been improving or remain healthy across key regions. In the U.S., supply and demand fundamentals are more balanced.

Peer Analysis

PPC's business profile is in line with the 'BBB-' rating category due to its size, profitability, geographical diversification and leverage. The company operates in the U.S., Mexico and Europe, with PPC's U.S. operations representing about 59% of sales as of FYE 2025. PPC is smaller than other U.S. peers, such as Tyson Foods, Inc. (BBB/Stable), which receive synergistic benefits from their scale. PPC has a less diversified product portfolio than its parent company, JBS, which exposes the company to higher industry risks.

Fitch's Key Rating-Case Assumptions

Revenue growth of 2.4% in 2026 and 1.9% in 2027;

Capex of about USD925 million in 2026 and USD700 million in 2027;

Corn prices of USD4.47 per bushel for 2026 and 2027;

Soybean prices of USD11.30 per bushel for 2026 and USD11.10 per bushel for 2027.

Corporate Rating Tool Inputs and Scores

Fitch scored the issuer as follows, using our Corporate Rating Tool (CRT) to produce the Standalone Credit Profile (SCP):

Business and financial profile factors (assessment, relative importance): management ('bbb', Lower), sector characteristics ('bbb-', Moderate), market and competitive positioning ('bbb', Moderate), diversification and asset quality ('bbb-', Higher), company operational characteristics ('bbb', Moderate), profitability ('bbb+', Moderate), financial structure ('bbb+', Moderate), and financial flexibility ('a-', Moderate).

The quantitative financial subfactors are based on standard CRT financial period parameters: 20% weight for the latest historical year 2024, 40% for the forecast year 2026 and 40% for the forecast year 2027.

The governance assessment of 'some deficiencies' results in an adjustment of -1 notch.

The operating environment assessment of 'a+' has no impact.

The SCP is 'bbb-'.

To derive the Long-Term IDR:

Application of Fitch's 'Parent and Subsidiary Linkage Rating Criteria' results in a same credit profile for both parent and subsidiary approach.

RATING SENSITIVITIES

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade

Significant debt-financed acquisitions and/or excessive shareholder distributions that would lead to a significant deterioration of the SCP;

A downgrade of JBS could impact the rating of PPC.

Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade

An upgrade of JBS's ratings could lead to an upgrade of PPC's ratings.

Liquidity and Debt Structure

PPC's liquidity is ample, supported by adequate cash on hand, revolver availability, strong cash flow generation and a comfortable amortization profile. As of 1Q26, PPC had approximately USD542 million of cash, total debt of USD3.2 billion, and available bank lines of USD1.2 billion with no debt maturities until 2031. The company's main debt is comprised of senior unsecured bonds.

Issuer Profile

PPC, one of the world's largest chicken producers, operates in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, France, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the Netherlands. PPC is a vertically integrated company controlled by JBS N.V. through indirect common stock ownership.

REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING

The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.

MACROECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS AND SECTOR FORECASTS

Click here to access Fitch's latest quarterly Global Corporates Sector Forecasts Monitor data file which aggregates key data points used in our credit analysis. Fitch's macroeconomic forecasts, commodity price assumptions, default rate forecasts, sector key performance indicators and sector-level forecasts are among the data items included.

Climate Vulnerability Signals

The results of our Climate.VS screener did not indicate an elevated risk for JBS N.V.

ESG Considerations

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Governance Structure due to ownership concentration, which has a negative impact on the credit profile and is relevant to the ratings in conjunction with other factors.

The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.

RATING ACTIONS

Entity / Debt

Rating

Prior

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation

LT IDR

BBB-

Affirmed

BBB-

senior unsecured

BBB-

Affirmed

BBB-

Page

of 1

VIEW ADDITIONAL RATING DETAILS

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com

PARTICIPATION STATUS

The rated entity (and/or its agents) or, in the case of structured finance, one or more of the transaction parties participated in the rating process except that the following issuer(s), if any, did not participate in the rating process, or provide additional information, beyond the issuer's available public disclosure.

APPLICABLE CRITERIA

Parent and Subsidiary Linkage Rating Criteria (pub. 28 Jun 2025)

Corporate Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Jan 2026) (including rating assumption sensitivity)

Sector Navigators - Addendum to the Corporate Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Jan 2026)

APPLICABLE MODELS

Numbers in parentheses accompanying applicable model(s) contain hyperlinks to criteria providing description of model(s).

Corporate Monitoring & Forecasting Model (COMFORT Model), v8.2.0 (1)

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