(Reuters) -Smithfield Foods raised its annual operating profit forecast and posted a rise in quarterly sales and earnings on Tuesday, helped by resilient demand for packaged meats, including bacon, and fresh pork products.
Consumers grappling with rising costs of living and tariff volatilities have increasingly opted to cook meals at home over dining out, aiding the business of meat packers such as Smithfield and Tyson Foods.
The Virginia-based company sells its pork, ham and sausages under brands,
including Smithfield, priced between $5 and $17 at Walmart. It also sells products under brands Eckrich and Nathan's Famous.
Sales in the packaged meat segment, a major revenue generator for the company, rose 6.9% during the second quarter, while fresh pork business sales increased 5%.
Smithfield Foods, an indirect, majority-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based WH Group, also benefited from its cost-savings efforts, including workforce reduction and trimming down the number of hogs it owns and shifting to buying more hogs from other producers.
The U.S. pork processor expects 2025 adjusted operating profit to be between $1.15 billion and $1.35 billion, compared with its prior range of $1.10 billion to $1.30 billion.
Smithfield Foods, which went public in January, sells a sizeable portion of packaged meat as private-label products to retail and foodservice customers in the U.S., which has helped it gain more market share.
Its sales rose 11% to $3.79 billion during the quarter ended June 29. It posted adjusted profit of 55 cents per share, compared with 51 cents a year ago.
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry in Bengaluru and Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shilpi Majumdar)
