Hershey vs Pilgrim's Pride
Pilgrim's Pride reported revenue of $18.5 billion in fiscal 2025, 1.6 times Hershey's $11.7 billion in fiscal 2025. Hershey's revenue grew 4.4% in its latest year, and Pilgrim's Pride's grew 3.5%. Hershey had an operating margin of 12.3%, against 8.7% at Pilgrim's Pride. Free cash flow was $1.8 billion at Hershey and $653 million at Pilgrim's Pride. Their fiscal years end in different months (December 31 and December 28), so the periods don't line up exactly.
Side by side
| Hershey | Pilgrim's Pride | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest fiscal year | FY2025, Dec 31, 2025 | FY2025, Dec 28, 2025 |
| Revenue | $11.7B | $18.5B |
| Revenue growth | 4.4% | 3.5% |
| Revenue growth a year, last 5 years | 7.5% | 8.9% |
| Gross margin | 33.5% | 12.8% |
| Operating margin | 12.3% | 8.7% |
| Net margin | 7.5% | 5.8% |
| Free cash flow | $1.8B | $653M |
| Free cash flow margin | 15.6% | 3.5% |
| Return on capital | 11.5% | 20.1% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 2.3x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.1B | $2.0B |
| Change in diluted share count | — | 0.3% |
| Last close | $168.23 | $27.33 |
| P/E at the last close | — | 11.9× |
| Insider trades, last 12 months | bought $445,416, sold $287.8 million | sold $303,030 |
| Piotroski F-score | — | 4 of 9 |
Amounts in each company's own currency, US$ unless marked (a foreign company may report in another), each company's latest fiscal year from its 10-K, or 20-F or 40-F for a foreign company. Growth rates compare with the year before; the five-year rate is the average a year. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business; P/E is the last close over the latest earnings per share. Banks are measured differently (return on equity, efficiency ratio), so some rows apply to one company only.
Ten years
Revenue
US$ billions, fiscal years
HersheyPilgrim's Pride
Operating margin
Percent of revenue
HersheyPilgrim's Pride
Free cash flow
US$ billions. Cash from operations minus capital expenditure.
HersheyPilgrim's Pride
Source: the companies' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR, and the last close. For information only, not investment advice: the figures describe results, not which company is the better investment. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with either company. Full figures on the Hershey and Pilgrim's Pride pages.