SPRINGDALE, ARK. — True to management’s commitment of controlling the controllables, Tyson Foods Inc.’s year-end and fourth-quarter results reflected efforts to continuously improve operational performance, especially in its Poultry and Prepared Foods business segments. Unfortunately, the positive impact of those and other efforts to streamline and grow the company’s overall business was blunted by the industrywide headwind created by the shrinking cattle supply.

For the year ended Sept. 28, Tyson Foods earned $800 million, equal to $2.31 per share on the common stock and an improvement over fiscal 2023 when the company recorded a loss of $649 million.

Annual sales ticked up to $53.3 billion from $52.9 billion the year before.

“We’re clearly pleased with our performance this year, where a significant turnaround in Chicken, combined with strong results in Prepared Foods and improvements in Pork, offset well-known challenges in Beef,” said Donnie King, president and chief executive officer of Tyson during a Nov. 12 conference call with financial analysts.

During the fourth quarter, Tyson Foods earned $357 million, equal to $1.03 per share and an improvement over the year before when the company had a quarterly loss of $450 million. Quarterly sales were $13.6 billion, up from $13.3 billion the year before.

In the Chicken segment, quarterly sales increased by 2.3% over the previous year, from $4.15 billion in fiscal 2023 to $4.25 billion in fiscal 2024. Operating income spiked to $356 million for the quarter and $1.02 billion for the year, which compared to $75 million in the year-ago quarter and a loss of $77 million for fiscal 2023.

Curt Calaway, chief financial officer, attributed the growth in the segment largely to Tyson’s ability to better align supply and demand.

“Lower input costs, net of pass-through pricing, and improved operational efficiencies and execution drove the growth,” he said.  “For the year, Chicken AOI (adjusted operating income) improved by nearly $1.1 billion, leading to the strongest AOI performance since fiscal ‘17.”

While the cattle cycle continues to be the beef industry’s bane, Tyson’s diverse protein portfolio helped ease the financial sting, Calaway said.

“Significant improvement in Chicken profitability was the largest driver of year-over-year growth for both the quarter and the full year with contributions from Prepared Foods and Pork offsetting declines in Beef,” Calaway said.

Sales for the quarter and for the year in the Prepared Foods segment were flat while operating income and margins reflected continued growth. For the quarter, segment sales dipped to $2.47 billion from the previous year’s $2.50 billion.

Year-end sales increased just under 1% higher than the previous year, at $9.85 billion compared to $9.86 billion in fiscal 2023.

However, Prepared Foods’ quarterly AOI of $205 million marked a 30% increase over the previous year’s $151 million. For the year, operating income grew nearly 2% to $905 million compared to $889 million in fiscal 2023.

“There is significant opportunity to drive profitability in Prepared Foods by operating with an increased level of discipline, increasing throughput and yield by performing the standards, eliminating waste, reducing complexity and continuing to improve service levels,” King said.

Beef segment sales were higher for the quarter and for the year, at $5.26 billion and $20.48 billion, respectively, with volume increasing 3.7% for the quarter and 1.6% for the year. However, the company said a compressed spread contributed to declines in profitability in the Beef business unit. Fourth-quarter operating income reflected a loss of $71 million for the quarter compared to AOI of $17 million during the same period of fiscal 2023. For the year, the operating income slumped to a $291 million loss compared to an AOI of $233 million in fiscal 2023.

“Obviously, the current cattle cycle remains challenging as there are no clear signs of sustained herd rebuilding intentions,” King said. “We will remain focused on the things we can control as we manage through it.”

In the Pork business segment, King said improved margins highlighted the company’s herd health and continued high demand for products. Sales of $1.44 billion for the quarter were a slight decline from the previous year’s sales of $1.49 billion. Volume for the quarter was up 3.2%, and average prices declined by 6.9%. Sales for the year were $5.90 billion compared to $5.77 billion in fiscal 2023, an increase of 2.2%. Pork volume increased 3.8% while the average price declined by 0.7%.

King attributed the improvements made in the company’s fiscal 2024 financial health over the previous year to increased AOI and careful management of capital spending. The company’s quarterly capital expenditures over the past year have declined steadily from a high of $589 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 to $248 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 (a total of just over $1.1 billion in 2024). In the coming year, Tyson expects capital spending in areas that include investments in profit improvement projects, maintenance and repairs to maintain at 2024 levels, at approximately $1 billion to $1.2 billion compared to $1.94 billion invested in fiscal 2023.

The company also provided guidance for fiscal 2025, which reflected continued improvement halfway into the year, when sales are expected to be flat with a possible decrease of about 1%.

“It's important to note that our guidance at midpoint for prepared foods and chicken reflects AOI expectations of more than $2 billion combined,” King said.