Full Transcript: JBS Q1 2026 Earnings Call

JBS (NYSE: JBS ) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Wednesday. Read the complete transcript below. This transcript is brought to you APIs. For real-time access to our entire catalog, please visit for a consultation.

V. 2%. The company faced operational challenges in North America, particularly in Beef, which reported a negative EBITDA of $230 million due to supply constraints and higher costs. Strategic initiatives include restructuring the US Beef platform, scaling AI capabilities globally, and focusing on technology and automation to enhance productivity.

5%, supported by export demand and growth in value-added products. 77 times, aiming to stay within a target range of two to three times net debt to EBITDA. Management highlighted the importance of diversification and expressed confidence in the company's ability to manage through the current cycle, while maintaining focus on operational excellence and cash generation. The company plans to file forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K with the SEC to broaden eligibility for key benchmark indexes.

Future outlook is optimistic with expectations for stronger cash generation in the second half of the year and continued focus on value creation through strategic investments. Full Transcript OPERATOR Good morning and welcome to JBS's first quarter of 2026 results conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session, and instructions will be given at that time.

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. Any statements eventually made during this conference call in connection with the company's business outlook, projections, operating financial targets, and potential growth should be understood as merely forecasts based on the company's management expectations in relation to the future of JBS. Such expectations are highly dependent on the industry and market conditions and therefore are subject to change. Our president with us today, Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS; Guilherme Calicanti, Global CFO of JBS; Wesley Batista, CEO of JBS USA; and Christiana Zees, Investor Relations Director.

Now, I'll turn the conference over to Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO of JBS. Mr. Tomazoni, you may begin your presentation. Gilberto Tomazoni, Global CEO Good morning, everyone.

Thank you for joining us today. The first quarter of 2026 was a challenging period for JBS, shaped by market volatility, seasonality, operational disruption, and changes in global trade flow. This is consistent with what we have been seeing. We understand the nature of our business and the cycles we operate in, and we manage the company with that in mind.

In this environment, we remain focused on what we can control: operational excellence, cost discipline, agility, and long-term value creation. JBS delivered net sales growth of 11%, reaching $21 billion USD, a record for a first quarter. 2%. 6 years.

From an operational perspective, the quarter reflected both the challenges of the cycle and the resilience of our platform. In Beef North America, the environment remained very difficult. 3%, impacted by constrained supply and higher costs. During the quarter, we advanced organizational and operational adjustments across our US Beef platform, focused on rationalizing, restructuring, and simplifying our structure in a more challenging phase of the cattle cycle.

As the business evolved, several areas were already operating in an increasingly integrated way. Building on that, we brought together the three business units—Fed Beef, Regional Beef, and Case Ready—into a more unified structure. This is a natural step. It reduces duplication, improves coordination, and allows us to leverage our skills and talent more efficiently while strengthening decision-making and positioning the business to improve its performance over time.

These actions are part of a broader effort driving efficiency across the company. Our focus is to extract more value from existing assets, improve productivity, and enhance execution through technology, automation, and data. At Friboi and Pilgrim's, we have been developing and piloting artificial intelligence initiatives for over a year to support better decision-making, commercial execution, and operational efficacy, and we are now scaling this capability globally. At Seara, we continue to advance automation and process improvement to increase productivity, improve product quality, and support the expansion of higher value-added categories.

These reflect our approach to the cycle. We act early, focus on what we control, and position the business for stronger performance ahead. This quarter once again highlighted the importance of our diversified platform. Despite the headwinds, our business helped balance and consolidate performance.

5%, supported by strong export demand, innovation, and growth in value-added products. Despite currency pressure and cost inflation, the outlook for poultry in Brazil remains positive, supported by balanced supply and demand, including adjustments in breeder placement and continuous demand growth. J