Quality Investor

Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Rank #393Capital Return

SFD · Nasdaq · Consumer Defensive

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (SFD) — Rank #393 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.17) · ROE 14.1% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.

As-of 2026-09-15 · CIK 0000091388 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.

About

Smithfield Foods, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, produces various packaged meats and fresh pork products in the United States and internationally.

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It operates through Packaged Meats, Fresh Pork, Hog Production, and Other segments. The Packaged Meats segment processes fresh meat into various packaged meats products, including bacon, sausage, hot dogs, deli and lunch meats, dry sausage products, ham products, ready-to-eat products, and prepared foods to retail and foodservice customers. This segment markets its packaged meat products under the Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan's Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, Krakus, John Morrell, Cook's, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curly's and Smithfield Culinary, as well as under private labels. The Fresh Pork segment processes live hogs into a variety of primal, sub-primal, and offal products, such as bellies, butts, hams, loins, trimmings, picnics, and ribs. This segment sells its fresh pork products to retail, foodservice and industrial customers, as well as to export markets, including China, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Canada. The Hog Production segment produces and raises its hogs on various company-owned farms and farms that are owned and operated by contract farmers. This segment also sells livestock feed and grains; and provides transportation and other ancillary services. The Other segment engages in the bioscience operations uses raw materials from hogs that process to manufacture heparin products, including an active pharmaceutical ingredient that mitigates the risk of blood clots; and produces fresh pork products in Mexico.

The company was founded in 1936 and is headquartered in Smithfield, Virginia. Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a subsidiary of SFDS UK Holdings Limited.

Industry
Packaged Foods
Sector
Consumer Defensive
State
VA
Filer Category
Non-accelerated filer
Fiscal Year End
January 3

Price History

SFD+11.4% · +6.9% CAGRSPY+28.6% · +16.8% CAGR

Company Snapshot

P/E and reverse DCF are the primary valuation lenses at this stage.

Market Cap

$7.86B

P/E (annual)

7.9

P/S (annual)

0.5

P/B

1.1

P/OCF (annual)

7.4

Shareholder Yield

1.7%

Employees

34,000

Industry

Packaged Foods

Exchange

Nasdaq

Signal Flags

3 green1 yellow
Revenue growth acceleratingGrowth rate increasing year over year
Operating leverage expandingOperating income growing faster than revenue
Sequential beat (rev + EPS)Both revenue and EPS exceeded prior quarter — 2-quarter streak
Dilution above 2%Annual share count increase exceeds 2%. May be acceptable for high-growth companies funding talent via stock compensation

Quality Profile

Profitability

1/1 pass
GP / assets
0.17
Return on equity
14.1%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.06
Current ratio
2.56×
Net cash
-$633.00M

Cash Flow

2/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
WARN
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.1%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
9.8%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
3.3%

Terry Smith quality gate

Passes 0/5 Terry Smith thresholds

1 of 5 threshold not computable from filed data.

What Growth Is Priced In

Implied revenue growth (10Y)

-0.6%

incredible deal

The annual FCF growth rate today's price requires over a 10-year horizon (discount rate 10%, terminal growth 2.5%).

Dilution drag: 3.3% — per-share value needs a total required return of 2.7% once share-count change is priced in.

vs. own 6-year median revenue growth: -3.4%

Cost-of-equity sensitivity (implied growth at different discount rates)

r = 8%

-4.4%

r = 10% (base)

-0.6%

r = 12%

2.7%

Net debt / market cap: 8.1%

Base FCF: $718M3Y mean FCF: $616.7M

Valuation History

Current multiple vs historical range at each filing date. Band spans 25th-75th percentile.

P / E

Price / diluted EPS

9.8xFair
7.6xmed 9.1x382.8x

P / S

Price / revenue per share

0.6xExpensive
0.4xmed 0.5x0.6x

P / B

Price / book value per share

1.4xExpensive
1.0xmed 1.1x1.4x

P / GP

Price / gross profit per share

4.6xFair
3.8xmed 4.7x8.2x

P / FCF

Price / free cash flow per share

13.4xFair
12.9xmed 17.6x39.8x

FCF yield, shareholder yield, and buyback activity are the primary reads at this stage.

Profitability

Gross profitability (GP / assets)

0.17

Primary signal (Novy-Marx).

13th of 18 SIC 20 peers

Return on equity

14.1%

Gross margin

13.5%

14th of 18 SIC 20 peers

Revenue growth (YoY)

9.8%

Gross margin improving

Margin trend vs prior year.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2023202320242025
Revenue vs COGS
Revenue vs OpEx
Op. Income vs Revenue

Growth

Revenue CAGR (3Y)

-1.4%

Revenue CAGR (5Y)

Earnings CAGR (3Y)

4.3%

FCF CAGR (3Y)

Anti-fragile safety

Balance-sheet safety

Composite anti-fragile check.

PASS

Debt / equity

1.06

16th of 18 SIC 20 peers (best = lowest)

Current ratio

2.56×

13th of 18 SIC 20 peers

Quick ratio

1.21×

Net cash

-$633.00M

Cash & equivalents minus total debt.

Cash-flow health

Free cash flow

$718.00M

Operating cash flow minus capex.

Positive free cash flow

PASS

FCF / net income

-0.27

Cash-backing of earnings.

FCF/NI divergence

Unfavorable divergence (yellow flag).

WARN

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

SBC / revenue

0.1%

Stock-based comp intensity.

Dividend safety

Composite score

2.2 / 5

Fair
Payout ratio
40.1%4/5 Strong
FCF coverage
1.81×3/5 Good
Dividend growth streak
1 yr1/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.06 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Piotroski F-Score

F-Score

6 / 9

Fundamental-strength score (0-9).

Lifecycle Phase History

20232025
Value
Capital Return