Smithfield Foods stock rises following first results since IPO

Smithfield Foods shares (SFD), the pork giant, rose in premarket trade on Tuesday after it reported its first quarterly results following its initial public offering.

Smithfield Foods reported that it had made a profit of $211 million from its continuing operations in the fourth quarter on sales of $3.95 billion. In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the company’s January IPO, Smithfield Foods, based in Smithfield, Va. said it expected a fourth-quarter net profit of $195 to $223 millions on sales between $3.87 billion and $3.95 billion. The firm had reported a loss of $131 on $4.00 million sales a previous year.

Smithfield is expecting an adjusted operating income of $1.1 billion-$1.3 billion for 2025. This compares to $1.02 billion the previous year. Sales will also increase by a single-digit percentage over the $14.14 million it reported last year.

Smithfield, America’s largest pork producer, was previously publicly traded. In 2013, WH Group, a Chinese company, took it private in a $4.87-billion deal. WH Group owns 90% of the company after the recent IPO.

Smithfield shares increased 3.5% following the report. They entered Tuesday slightly below the $19.75 level where they ended on their first day of trading after opening on the Nasdaq at $21.05. The stock gained about 3% on Monday, following the news that Smithfield was added to the Russell 1000 index as part of its quarterly addition of eligible new IPOs.