Forensic Analysis · Packaged Foods · as of Nov 9, 2026
Pilgrims Pride Corp (PPC)
A forensic read on Pilgrims Pride Corp built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
3.2
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
2
Forensic signals
27.3%
ROE
3.5%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Pilgrims Pride Corp earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 3.2, placing it in the Safe zone. 2 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
305% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $2.0B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 305% of free cash flow. That is $1.3B (205%) more than free cash flow covered, and more than operating cash flow as well. It came out of the balance sheet's own liquid holdings, not new debt: cash and short-term investments fell $1.4B over FY2025, while total debt fell $113M. A payout past free cash flow draws the balance sheet down in every year it continues, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $29M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 310%.
+10.4%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +10.4% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. Net operating assets also rose $125.6M through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by receivables up +16% against revenue +3% and inventory up +14% against +4% in cost of sales. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 5% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 10.4%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$18.50B
Revenue Growth YoY+3.5%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+3.2%
Net Margin5.9%
Free Cash Flow$653.1M
Return on Equity27.3%
Debt / Equity0.84x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Pilgrims Pride Corp's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?