By Brazil Stock Guide – JBS N.V. (NYSE: JBS; B3: JBSS32) delivered higher sales across its global protein empire in the first quarter. But the world’s largest meat company is still exposed to the economics of cattle supply, poultry volatility and working-capital swings.
Net sales rose 11% from a year earlier to $21.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA under IFRS fell 26% to $1.13 billion, while adjusted EBITDA under US GAAP dropped 30% to $916 million. Net income attributable to JBS shareholders fell to $221 million from $500 million a year earlier. Earnings per share declined 56% to $0.21.
Scale Meets Cycle
The quarter showed both the value and the limits of JBS’s multi-protein, multi-geography model. The company can absorb shocks better than a single-market processor. It cannot avoid them entirely.
Two businesses did most of the damage. Beef North America was hit by a tight cattle cycle, with live cattle costs rising faster than beef cutout values. Pilgrim’s Pride was pressured by weather disruptions, planned plant downtime and weaker commodity fundamentals.
That combination matters because JBS is not just a Brazilian beef company. It is a global protein platform spanning beef, chicken, pork, processed foods, aquaculture and prepared products. In strong cycles, that diversification can smooth earnings. In the first quarter, it softened the blow — but did not prevent a steep margin contraction.
U.S. Beef Pain
Beef North America posted record sales for a first quarter, with revenue up 11.6% to $7.17 billion. But profitability moved in the opposite direction. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $267 million under IFRS, compared with a loss of $100 million a year earlier. The margin fell to -3.7%.
The problem was not demand. JBS said U.S. consumer demand remained resilient and cutout values stayed historically high. The problem was supply. Low cattle availability pushed live cattle prices higher, compressing industry spreads, especially in January and February.
The company also cited continued restrictions on live cattle imports from Mexico, which further limited supply in the U.S. market. For investors, that is the uncomfortable part of the story: even record sales can destroy margins when input costs move faster than finished-product prices.
Chicken Loses Lift
Pilgrim’s Pride was the second weak point. Net sales rose only 1.6% to $4.53 billion, while adjusted EBITDA fell 31.9% to $450 million under IFRS. The margin dropped to 9.9% from 14.8% a year earlier.
Under US GAAP, the decline was even sharper. Adjusted EBITDA fell 42.2% to $308 million, with the margin narrowing to 6.8%.
Management framed part of the weakness as temporary. Pilgrim’s Pride carried out operational projects, planned downtime and efficiency initiatives that should support future growth. But for the quarter itself, the market is likely to focus on the loss of profitability in a business that usually helps balance volatility elsewhere in the group.
Brazil Holds Better
The Brazilian beef operation was more resilient. JBS Brazil reported net sales of $3.79 billion, up 19.5%, supported by higher prices and strong export demand. Adjusted EBITDA rose 27.9% to $168 million under IFRS, with the margin edging up to 4.4%.
The improvement came despite higher cattle costs. JBS said the average live cattle price in Brazil was about R$338 per arroba in the quarter, up 6% from a year earlier, based on CEPEA-ESALQ data.
That makes Brazil a partial counterweight to the U.S. story. Export demand, geographic diversification and value-added offerings helped revenue and profitability. But the business was still operating in a cost environment that limited the full benefit of stronger sales.
Seara Still Strong
Seara remained one of the company’s most important stabilizers. Revenue rose 10.6% to $2.38 billion, while the unit delivered a strong adjusted EBITDA margin of 15.5%.
Even so, Seara was not immune to margin pressure. Adjusted EBITDA fell 13.3% to $369 million under IFRS, and the margin declined from 19.8% a year earlier. The company cited a tougher environment in some export markets, including effects linked to the conflict in the Middle East, while continuing to invest in value-added products, processing capacity and brand strength.
The takeaway is nuanced. Seara is still a high-quality asset inside JBS. But even its strong execution could not fully offset a more difficult cost and market backdrop.
Pork Helps
JBS USA Pork was one of the clearer positives. Net sales rose 1.5% to $2.03 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased 10.8% to $274 million under IFRS. The margin improved to 13.5% from 12.4%.
The unit benefited from solid domestic demand as U.S. consumers looked for more affordable protein options. That helped pork act as a partial hedge against the weaker beef cycle.
Australia also grew strongly on the revenue line, with sales up 32.3% to $2.15 billion. But adjusted EBITDA fell 17.2% to $133 million under IFRS. JBS said results in Australian dollars were stable, but foreign-exchange translation hurt reported results in U.S. dollars. Cattle costs in Australia rose about 30% year on year.
Cash Burn
The most sensitive number in the release was cash flow. JBS posted negative free cash flow of $1.47 billion in the first quarter, compared with negative $917.5 million a year earlier.
Part of that is seasonal. The first quarter usually consumes cash because of concentrated payments to cattle and hog suppliers. But the deterioration also reflected about $400 million less adjusted EBITDA compared with a year earlier and roughly $300 million more capex, mainly growth investment.
Net debt reached $17.86 billion, up from $14.75 billion a year earlier. Net leverage ended the quarter at 2.77 times adjusted EBITDA, compared with 1.99 times in the first quarter of 2025.
Management said leverage remains in line with the company’s long-term target. That may be true. But the direction of travel still matters: lower profitability, higher capex and negative free cash flow leave less room for error if cattle markets stay tight for longer.
Global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni said the quarter reflected the strength of JBS’s multi-geography and multi-protein platform, with sales growth across all business units. He also pointed to return on equity of 22%, return on invested capital of 15% and leverage within the company’s long-term target.
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