Pilgrims Pride (PPC) risk factors, FY2024 10-K

Pilgrims Pride's FY2024 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2025, lists 27 risk factors. There is no earlier 10-K to compare against, so the most company-specific risks are listed below.

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Risk factors listed
270 groups
Section length
10k wordsItem 1A

Pilgrims Pride's biggest risks in the FY2024 10-K

  • Pilgrim's Pride faces heavy earnings exposure to commodity feed costs and cyclical chicken and pork market prices.
  • Disease outbreaks, food contamination risks, and foreign operational complexities significantly threaten business stability.
  • Majority control by JBS USA creates concentrated voting power and potential reputational spillover risks.

The risks most specific to Pilgrims Pride

  • Profitability in the chicken and pork industries is materially affected by the commodity prices of feed ingredients and the market prices of chicken and pork, which are determined by supply and demand factors. As a result, the chicken and pork industries are subject to cyclical earnings fluctuations

    Profitability depends heavily on volatile commodity prices for feed ingredients like grain and market prices for chicken and pork.

  • Outbreaks of livestock diseases in general, and poultry and pig diseases in particular, including avian influenza and African swine fever, can significantly and adversely affect our ability to conduct our operations and the demand for our products

    Livestock disease outbreaks such as avian influenza and African swine fever can devastate flock health, operations, and product demand.

  • If our products become contaminated, we may be subject to product liability claims and product recalls. Such product liability claims or product recalls could adversely affect our business reputation, expose us to increased scrutiny by federal and state regulators and may not be fully covered by insurance

    Pathogen contamination like Salmonella or Listeria can trigger costly product recalls, liability claims, and intense regulatory scrutiny.

  • We may not be able to successfully integrate the operations of companies we acquire or benefit from growth opportunities

    Acquisition integration risks, such as combining cultures and facilities or increasing debt leverage like the 2021 Pilgrim's Food Masters purchase, may fail.

  • We depend on contract growers and independent producers to supply us with livestock

    Production operations depend entirely on attracting and retaining independent contract growers and livestock producers.

  • Our performance depends on favorable labor relations with our employees and our compliance with labor laws. Any deterioration of those relations or increase in labor costs due to our compliance with labor laws could adversely affect our business

    Approximately 35.4% of our 61,600 employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, with labor cost increases threatening profitability.

  • JBS USA beneficially owns a majority of our common stock and has the ability to control the vote on most matters brought before the holders of our common stock

    JBS USA Holdings beneficially owns a majority of our common stock and controls board appointments and voting outcomes.

  • We are subject to reputational risk in connection with U.S. and Brazilian civil and criminal actions and investigations involving our ultimate controlling shareholders, and these actions may materially adversely impact our business and prospects and damage our reputation and image

    Civil and criminal actions involving our ultimate controlling shareholders, Wesley and Joesley Batista, create severe reputational risk.

  • Our future financial and operating flexibility may be adversely affected by significant leverage

    Significant leverage including $3.2 billion of unsecured indebtedness requires major cash flow for debt service and limits operating flexibility.

All 27 risk factors

Headings as the filing states them, in filing order.

Other

  1. 01Industry cyclicality can affect our earnings, especially due to fluctuations in commodity prices of feed ingredients, chicken and pork
  2. 02Profitability in the chicken and pork industries is materially affected by the commodity prices of feed ingredients and the market prices of chicken and pork, which are determined by supply and demand factors. As a result, the chicken and pork industries are subject to cyclical earnings fluctuations
  3. 03Outbreaks of livestock diseases in general, and poultry and pig diseases in particular, including avian influenza and African swine fever, can significantly and adversely affect our ability to conduct our operations and the demand for our products
  4. 04If our products become contaminated, we may be subject to product liability claims and product recalls. Such product liability claims or product recalls could adversely affect our business reputation, expose us to increased scrutiny by federal and state regulators and may not be fully covered by insurance
  5. 05Our foreign operations and commerce in international markets pose special risks to our business and operations and subject us to additional regulatory frameworks and compliance costs
  6. 06Competition in the chicken and pork industries with other vertically integrated chicken or pork companies may make us unable to compete successfully in this industry, which could adversely affect our business
  7. 07Media campaigns related to food production; regulatory and customer focus on environmental, social and governance responsibility; and recent increased focus and attention by the U.S. government on market dynamics in the meat processing industry could expose us to additional costs or risks
  8. 08Our operations are subject to general risks of litigation
  9. 09We may not be able to successfully integrate the operations of companies we acquire or benefit from growth opportunities
  10. 10The consolidation of customers and/or the loss of one or more of our largest customers could adversely affect our business
  11. 11We depend on contract growers and independent producers to supply us with livestock
  12. 12Changes in consumer preference could negatively impact our business
  13. 13Climate change and related regulations may have a long-term adverse impact on our business and results of operations
  14. 14Regulations, present and future, are constant factors affecting our business
  15. 15Environmental, Health and Safety
  16. 16Other jurisdictions in which we operate have adopted similar anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws to which we are subject. Civil and criminal penalties may be imposed for violations of these laws
  17. 17Our performance depends on favorable labor relations with our employees and our compliance with labor laws. Any deterioration of those relations or increase in labor costs due to our compliance with labor laws could adversely affect our business
  18. 18Loss of essential employees or material increase in employee turnover could have a significant negative impact on our business
  19. 19Labor shortages and increased turnover or increases in employee and employee-related costs could have adverse effects on our profitability
  20. 20If we are unable to attract, hire or retain key team members or a highly skilled and diverse global workforce, it could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations
  21. 21JBS USA beneficially owns a majority of our common stock and has the ability to control the vote on most matters brought before the holders of our common stock
  22. 22We are subject to reputational risk in connection with U.S. and Brazilian civil and criminal actions and investigations involving our ultimate controlling shareholders, and these actions may materially adversely impact our business and prospects and damage our reputation and image
  23. 23Our future financial and operating flexibility may be adversely affected by significant leverage
  24. 24Impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other identifiable intangible assets could negatively affect our operating results
  25. 25Weak or unstable national or global economic conditions, including inflation, could negatively impact our business
  26. 26Our business may be negatively impacted by economic or other consequences from Russia’s war against Ukraine and the sanctions imposed as a response to that action
  27. 27Extreme weather, natural disasters or other events beyond our control as well as interruption by man-made problems such as power disruptions could negatively impact our business

Other Pilgrims Pride 10-Ks

  • FY2025 10-K risk factors
    27 risks1 new1 dropped5 reworded

    Pilgrim's Pride added artificial intelligence compliance risks while updating workforce metrics to 63,000 employees and refining war-related feed market assumptions.

    Filed Feb 12, 2026

About this page

The headings are the filing's own. The one-line readings and the overview are automated and can be wrong: read Item 1A of the 10-K for the exact wording.