Analyst Note
| Rebecca Scheuneman, CFA |The meat processing industry has been a turbulent space, dealing with price-fixing litigation, tariff wars, backlash from environmentalists and animal advocates, links to heart disease and cancer, African swine fever, and threats of obsolescence from plant-based replacements. The pandemic has intensified pressure, with headlines of significant worker illness, and production disruptions that led to product shortages and steep inflation, even as farmers suffered sharp drops in livestock values. With many stocks down significantly year to date, including no-moat Pilgrim's Pride, no-moat Tyson, and narrow-moat WH Group, which are down 50%, 33%, and 18%, respectively, we've assessed whether these declines represent buying opportunities or value traps.