Tyson Foods, Inc.

to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star then one on a touch-tone phone. To withdraw your question, please press star then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to John Cottle, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to Tyson Foods' fourth quarter fiscal 2025 earnings conference call. On today's call, Tyson's President and Chief Executive Officer Donnie King Chief Financial Officer, Curt Calloway, and Chief Operating Officer, Devin Cole will provide prepared remarks. Following the prepared remarks, we will have a Q&A session with the participants who will be joined by our Chief Growth Officer, Christina Lambert. We have also provided a supplemental presentation, which may be referenced on today's call and is available on Tyson's Investor Relations website and via the link in our webcast. During today's call, we will make forward-looking statements regarding our expectations for the future. These forward-looking statements made during the call are provided pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include all comments reflecting our expectations, assumptions, or beliefs about future events or performance that do not relate solely to historical periods. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current projections. Please refer to our forward-looking statement disclaimers on slide 2, as well as our SEC filings, for any additional information concerning risk factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our projections. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Please note that references to earnings per share, operating income, and operating margin in our remarks are on an adjusted basis for our fiscal periods unless otherwise noted. For reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their corresponding GAAP measures, please refer to our earnings press release. Now, I will turn the call over to Donnie.

Thank you, John, and thanks to everyone joining us today. I'm pleased to report that our business delivered solid progress and performance this quarter and throughout the year. Looking ahead, we see even more opportunities for growth across all our business units. This quarter, we achieved increases in sales, adjusted operating income, and adjusted earnings per share, continuing our upward trajectory for the full year. Our annual growth and adjusted operating income was driven by the chicken, pork, and prepared food segments. along with notable contributions from our international business. In the fourth quarter, our team executed well across our portfolio, with momentum and value-added protein offerings. The chicken segment stood out, delivering $457 million in adjusted operating income, thanks to higher volumes, better operational execution, and lower feed costs. These gains were partially offset by increased marketing and promotional expenses. We believe there's still untapped potential in areas we can control within this business. Prepared Foods saw growth in both sales and adjusted operating income. Our production facilities made significant performance improvement through disciplined operational efficiencies. Meanwhile, our innovation pipeline is evolving to better match consumer preferences and emerging trends. As a result, our Prepared Foods business is capturing more market share by volume and dollars. driven by innovation and targeted mass spending that is showing measurable returns. In our beef and pork segments, we are increasing yield and revenue by developing more value-added products, such as seasoned marinated and specialty-trimmed cuts using portions that were previously undervalued. These offerings are reaching more consumers through our branded portfolio, and we're also enhancing operational efficiencies in these areas. As anticipated, the beef segment remains our only soft spot. Cattle supplies are at record lows due to drought, potential herd rebuilding, and the impact of new world screw worm in Mexico. These factors created market headwinds during the quarter. Despite these challenges, we're strengthening our fundamentals by prioritizing efficiency, reducing costs, and introducing innovative products. This positions us to emerge stronger in beef when market conditions improve. Looking forward, we expect cattle supplies to remain tight as we move into 2026. During this period, chicken is likely to benefit most from changing consumer preferences, both at retail and in food service. 2026 presents further opportunities for our chicken business. Chicken is an affordable, high-quality protein, and our innovative value-added offerings position us uniquely to serve both retail and food service customers amid high beef prices. While we are not satisfied with our current beef results, our diversified business model continues to build resilience and drive profitability across the companies. Overall, our financial position is strong with net leverage maintained at 2.1 times, a direct result of deliberate actions and disciplined capital allocation to fortify our balance sheet. While consumers remain cautious and selective with their spending, we continue to expand our market share in both volume and dollars. Protein remains a top priority for shoppers. Despite rising prices, beef, pork, and chicken are clear favorites, with consumers viewing protein as an essential purchase and continuing to buy meat. According to Nielsen data, food and beverage retail volume declined 1.5% over the 13 weeks ending in September. In contrast, our retail branded products grew by 2.4% in volume, significantly outperforming the broader sector. This growth was broad-based, highlighted by strong performances across several key brands. Hillshire Farm lunch meats increased by 10.3%. Hillshire snacking grew by 12.5%. Tyson branded frozen value-added chicken rose by 8.7%, and Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage advanced by 1.6%. Our ongoing investments in innovation, wider distribution, and effective marketing are driving growth and keeping us competitive, providing substantial opportunities for further progress. As more shoppers turn to the perimeter of the store, we're meeting their demand for fresh, high-quality options with Tyson branded fresh chicken volume growing 7.8% during this period. Our retail branded products now reach nearly 72% of U.S. households, a rate that exceeds both private label and other branded competitors. Although private label sales are rising, their growth comes at the expense of other brands, not Tyson, as we continue to outpace the category of both volume and performance. We are committed to engaging consumers wherever they are, leveraging our brand strength to thoughtfully expand into new markets and opportunities. Our recent launch of Tyson high-protein chicken cuts, each offering at least 30 grams of protein per serving, has achieved nationwide distribution. This success confirms strong consumer demand for convenient protein-packed options. Excitement for these products is evident across social media and at retail. reinforcing our strategy to connect our brands with consumers and deliver innovative ways to enjoy our protein-rich foods. Hill Shower Farm, long trusted for lunch meat, has now entered the freezer section with stuffed croissants and ciabatta deli sandwiches. These new additions offer consumers even more convenient, delicious, and protein-rich meal solutions. We're also seeing growing interest from Gen Z shoppers in the frozen aisle. Our latest offerings are designed to meet their demand for convenience, bold flavors, and high quality. Sales from our innovation pipeline has steadily increased over the past three years. Our innovation spans all brands and segments, ensuring we address both current and future consumer needs. Tyson Foods is proud to lead the industry by developing products with simpler, recognizable ingredients, just like those found in your own kitchen pantry. We recently introduced our simpler product line, now available in stores nationwide. The preference for healthier options is clear. Last quarter, we announced that by year end, we will remove high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, BHA, BHT, and titanium dioxide from our branded products produced in the United States. As a world-class food company and a recognized leader in protein, Tyson Foods is well positioned to meet the growing demand for high quality protein. In the fourth quarter, we welcome Devin Cole as our new chief operating officer. Devin has over 30 years of experience in food industry leadership across both retail and food service. He has a proven track record working with our largest strategic customers worldwide, and most recently led our chicken and international businesses to significant improvement last year. Now, I would like to invite Devin to share more about our segment performance.