Document
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
[X]
Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
For the fiscal year ended
September 30, 2017
 
 
 
[ ]
Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
For the transition period from                          to                         
coverpagelogoshrevised01002a.jpg
001-14704
(Commission File Number)
______________________________________________
TYSON FOODS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
______________________________________________
Delaware
 
71-0225165
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
 
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
 
 
 
2200 West Don Tyson Parkway, Springdale, Arkansas
 
72762-6999
(Address of principal executive offices)
 
(Zip Code)
 
 
 
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
 
(479) 290-4000
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class
 
Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Class A Common Stock, Par Value $0.10
 
New York Stock Exchange
Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Not Applicable
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes [X] No [ ]
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes [ ] No [X]
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [X] No [ ]
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes [X] No [ ]
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. []
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.




Large accelerated filer
 
x
 
Accelerated filer
 
o
Non-accelerated filer
 
o  (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)
 
Smaller reporting company
 
o
 
 
 
 
Emerging growth company
 
o
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of September 30, 2017.
Class
 
Outstanding Shares
Class A Common Stock, $0.10 Par Value (Class A stock)
 
297,596,071

Class B Common Stock, $0.10 Par Value (Class B stock)
 
70,010,755






On April 1, 2017, the aggregate market value of the registrant’s Class A Common Stock, $0.10 par value (Class A stock), and Class B Common Stock, $0.10 par value (Class B stock), held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $17,568,317,217 and $663,691, respectively. Class B stock is not publicly listed for trade on any exchange or market system. However, Class B stock is convertible into Class A stock on a share-for-share basis, so the market value was calculated based on the market price of Class A stock.
On October 28, 2017, there were 297,708,610 shares of Class A stock and 70,010,355 shares of Class B stock outstanding.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for the registrant’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders to be held February 8, 2018, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 
PAGE
 
 
Item 1.
Item 1A.
Item 1B.
Item 2.
Item 3.
Item 4.
 
 
 
 
 
Item 5.
Item 6.
Item 7.
Item 7A.
Item 8.
Item 9.
Item 9A.
Item 9B.
 
 
 
 
 
Item 10.
Item 11.
Item 12.
Item 13.
Item 14.
 
 
 
 
 
Item 15.
Item 16.

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PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS
GENERAL
Tyson Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “Tyson Foods” or “Tyson”) (NYSE: TSN) is one of the world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the Company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp® and State Fair®. Tyson Foods innovates continually to make protein more sustainable, tailor food for everywhere it’s available and raise the world’s expectations for how much good food can do. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company had approximately 122,000 team members on September 30, 2017. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Some of the key factors influencing our business are customer demand for our products; the ability to maintain and grow relationships with customers and introduce new and innovative products to the marketplace; accessibility of international markets; market prices for our products; the cost and availability of live cattle and hogs, raw materials and feed ingredients; and operating efficiencies of our facilities.
We operate a fully vertically-integrated chicken production process. Our integrated operations consist of breeding stock, contract growers, feed production, processing, further-processing, marketing and transportation of chicken and related allied products, including animal and pet food ingredients. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Cobb-Vantress, Inc., we are one of the leading poultry breeding stock suppliers in the world. Investing in breeding stock research and development allows us to breed into our flocks the characteristics found to be most desirable.
We also process live fed cattle and hogs and fabricate dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, case ready beef and pork and fully-cooked meats. In addition, we derive value from allied products such as hides and variety meats sold to further processors and others.
We produce a wide range of fresh, value-added, frozen and refrigerated food products. Our products are marketed and sold primarily by our sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies and domestic distributors who serve restaurants, foodservice operations such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals and other vendors. Additionally, sales to the military and a portion of sales to international markets are made through independent brokers and trading companies.
On June 7, 2017, we acquired and consolidated AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, Inc. ("AdvancePierre"), a producer and distributor of value-added, convenient, ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components and other entrées and snacks. AdvancePierre's results of operations are included in the Prepared Foods and Chicken segments. For further description of this transaction, refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisitions and Dispositions.
As part of our commitment to innovation and growth, in fiscal 2017 we launched a venture capital fund focused on investing in companies developing breakthrough technologies, business models and products to sustainably feed a growing world population. The Tyson New Ventures LLC, fund is used to broaden our exposure to innovative, new forms of protein and ways of sustainably producing food to complement the Company's continuing investments in innovation in our core Beef, Pork, Chicken and Prepared Foods businesses.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF SEGMENTS
We operate in four reportable segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken and Prepared Foods. Other primarily includes our foreign chicken production operations in China and India, third-party merger and integration costs and corporate overhead related to Tyson New Ventures, LLC. The contribution of each segment to net sales and operating income (loss), and the identifiable assets attributable to each segment, are set forth in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 17: Segment Reporting.
DESCRIPTION OF SEGMENTS
Beef: Beef includes our operations related to processing live fed cattle and fabricating dressed beef carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts and case-ready products. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes sales from allied products such as hides and variety meats, as well as logistics operations to move products through the supply chain.

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Pork: Pork includes our operations related to processing live market hogs and fabricating pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal cuts and case-ready products. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes our live swine group, related allied product processing activities and logistics operations to move products through the supply chain.
Chicken: Chicken includes our domestic operations related to raising and processing live chickens into, and purchasing raw materials for, fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products, as well as sales from allied products. Our value-added chicken products primarily include breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes logistics operations to move products through our domestic supply chain and the global operations of our chicken breeding stock subsidiary.
Prepared Foods: Prepared Foods includes our operations related to manufacturing and marketing frozen and refrigerated food products and logistics operations to move products through the supply chain. This segment includes brands such as Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, State Fair®, Van's®, Sara Lee® and Chef Pierre®, as well as artisanal brands Aidells®, Gallo Salame®, and Golden Island®. Products primarily include ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components such as flame-grilled hamburgers and Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, flour and corn tortilla products, desserts, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, soups, sauces, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks and processed meats. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets.
RAW MATERIALS AND SOURCES OF SUPPLY
Beef: The primary raw materials used in our beef operations are live cattle. We do not have facilities of our own to raise cattle but employ cattle buyers located throughout cattle producing areas who visit independent feed yards and public auctions and buy live cattle on the open spot market. These buyers are trained to select high quality animals, and we continually measure their performance. We also enter into various risk-sharing and procurement arrangements with producers to secure a supply of livestock for our facilities. Although we generally expect adequate supply of live cattle in the regions we operate, there may be periods of imbalance in supply and demand.
Pork: The primary raw materials used in our pork operations are live hogs. The majority of our live hog supply is obtained through various procurement relationships with independent producers. We employ hog buyers who make purchase agreements of various time durations as well as purchase hogs on a daily basis, generally a few days before the animals are processed. These buyers are trained to select high quality animals, and we continually measure their performance. We believe the supply of live hogs is adequate for our present needs. Additionally, we raise a small number of weanling swine to sell to independent finishers and supply a minimal amount of market hogs and live swine for our own processing needs.
Chicken: The primary raw materials used in our domestic chicken operations are corn and soybean meal used as feed and live chickens raised primarily by independent contract growers. Our vertically-integrated chicken process begins with the grandparent breeder flocks and ends with broilers for processing. Breeder flocks (i.e., grandparents) are raised to maturity in grandparent growing and laying farms where fertile eggs are produced. Fertile eggs are incubated at the grandparent hatchery and produce pullets (i.e., parents). Pullets are sent to breeder houses, and the resulting eggs are sent to our hatcheries. Once chicks have hatched, they are sent to broiler farms. There, contract growers care for and raise the chicks according to our standards, with advice from our technical service personnel, until the broilers reach the desired processing weight. Adult chickens are transported to processing plants where they are harvested and converted into finished products, which are then sent to distribution centers and delivered to customers.
We operate feed mills to produce scientifically-formulated feeds. In fiscal 2017, corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients were major production costs, representing roughly 55% of our cost of growing a live chicken domestically. In addition to feed ingredients to grow the chickens, we use cooking ingredients, packaging materials and cryogenic agents. We believe our sources of supply for these materials are adequate for our present needs, and we do not anticipate any difficulty in acquiring these materials in the future. While we produce nearly all our inventory of breeder chickens and live broilers, we also purchase ice-packed or deboned chicken, including no antibiotics ever (sometimes referred to as "NAE") certified chicken, to meet production and sales requirements.
Prepared Foods: The primary raw materials used in our prepared foods operations are commodity based raw materials, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, corn, flour, vegetables, bread, breading, cheese, eggs, seasonings, and other cooking ingredients. Some of these raw materials are provided by our other segments, while others may be purchased from numerous suppliers and manufacturers. We believe the sources of supply of raw materials are adequate for our present needs.

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SEASONAL DEMAND
Demand for beef, chicken and certain prepared foods products, such as hot dogs and smoked sausage, generally increases during the spring and summer months and generally decreases during the winter months. Pork and certain other prepared foods products, such as prepared meals, meat dishes, appetizers, frozen pies and breakfast sausage, generally experience increased demand during the winter months, primarily due to the holiday season, while demand generally decreases during the spring and summer months.
CUSTOMERS
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. accounted for 17.3% of our fiscal 2017 consolidated sales. Sales to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. were included in all of our segments. Any extended discontinuance of sales to this customer could, if not replaced, have a material impact on our operations. No other single customer or customer group represented more than 10% of fiscal 2017 consolidated sales.
COMPETITION
Our food products compete with those of other food producers and processors and certain prepared food manufacturers. Additionally, our food products compete in markets around the world.
We seek to achieve a leading market position for our products via our principal marketing and competitive strategy, which includes:
identifying target markets for value-added products;
concentrating production, sales and marketing efforts to appeal to and enhance demand from those markets; and
utilizing our national distribution systems and customer support services.
Past efforts indicate customer demand can be increased and sustained through application of our marketing strategy, as supported by our distribution systems. The principal competitive elements are price, product safety and quality, brand identification, innovation, breadth and depth of product offerings, availability of products, customer service and credit terms.
FOREIGN OPERATIONS
We sold products in approximately 117 countries in fiscal 2017. Major sales markets include Canada, Central America, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, South Korea and Taiwan.
We have the following foreign operations:
Cobb-Vantress, a chicken breeding stock subsidiary, has business interests in Argentina, Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, India, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.
Tyson Rizhao, located in Rizhao, China, is a vertically-integrated chicken production operation.
Tyson Dalong, a joint venture in China in which we have a majority interest, is a chicken further-processing facility.
Tyson Nantong, located in Nantong, China, is a vertically-integrated chicken production operation.
Godrej Tyson Foods, a joint venture in India in which we have a majority interest, is primarily a chicken processing business.
Tyson Mexico Trading Company, a Mexican subsidiary, sells chicken products primarily through co-packer arrangements.
We continue to evaluate growth opportunities in foreign countries. Additional information regarding export sales and long-lived assets located in foreign countries is set forth in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 17: Segment Reporting.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
We conduct continuous research and development activities to improve product development, to automate manual processes in our processing plants and growout operations, and to improve chicken breeding stock. With regards to our food products we have two research and development locations, our Discovery Center in Springdale, Arkansas, and another center located in Downers Grove, Illinois. The centers include more than 80,000 square feet of United States Department of Agriculture ("USDA") pilot plant space, two consumer sensory and focus group areas, a packaging lab and 25 research kitchens. The centers enable us to bring new market-leading retail and foodservice products to the customer quickly and efficiently. Research and development costs totaled $113 million, $96 million, and $75 million in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND FOOD SAFETY
Our facilities for processing beef, pork, chicken, turkey and prepared foods, milling feed and housing live chickens and swine are subject to a variety of international, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, which include provisions relating to the discharge of materials into the environment and generally provide for protection of the environment. We believe we are in substantial compliance with such applicable laws and regulations and are not aware of any violations of such laws and regulations likely to result in material penalties or material increases in compliance costs. The cost of compliance with such laws and regulations has not had a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position, and except as described below, is not anticipated to have a material adverse effect in the future.

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Congress, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and some states continue to consider various options to control greenhouse gas emissions. It is unclear at this time what options, if any, will be finalized, and whether such options would have a direct impact on the Company. Due to continuing uncertainty surrounding this issue, it is premature to speculate on the specific nature of impacts that imposition of greenhouse gas emission controls would have on us and whether such impacts would have a material adverse effect.
We work to ensure our products meet high standards of food safety and quality. In addition to our own internal Food Safety and Quality Assurance oversight and review, our beef, pork, chicken, and prepared foods products are subject to inspection prior to distribution, primarily by the USDA and the United States Food and Drug Administration. We are also participants in the United States Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point program and are subject to the Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Additionally, our foreign operations are subject to various other food safety and quality assurance oversight and review.
EMPLOYEES AND LABOR RELATIONS
As of September 30, 2017, we employed approximately 122,000 employees. Approximately 117,000 employees were employed in the United States, and 5,000 employees were employed in foreign countries, primarily in China. Approximately 31,000 employees in the United States were subject to collective bargaining agreements with various labor unions, with approximately 10% of those employees at locations either under negotiation for contract renewal or included under agreements expiring in fiscal 2018. The remaining agreements expire over the next several years. Approximately 4,000 employees in foreign countries were subject to collective bargaining agreements. We believe our overall relations with our workforce are good.
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
Our principal marketing objective is to be the preferred provider of beef, pork, chicken, and prepared foods products for our customers and consumers. We build the Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp® and State Fair® brands while supporting strong regional and emerging brands primarily through well-defined, product-specific advertising, marketing, and public relations efforts focused toward key consumer targets with specific needs. We identify growth and business opportunities through consumer and customer insights derived via leading research and analytic capabilities. We utilize our national distribution system and customer support services to achieve the leading market position for our products and brands.
We have the ability to produce and ship fresh, frozen and refrigerated products worldwide. Domestically, our distribution system extends to a broad network of food distributors and is supported by our owned or leased cold storage warehouses, public cold storage facilities and our transportation system. Our distribution centers accumulate fresh and frozen products so we can fill and consolidate partial-truckload orders into full truckloads, thereby decreasing shipping costs while increasing customer service. In addition, we provide our customers a wide selection of products that do not require large volume orders. Our distribution system enables us to supply large or small quantities of products to meet customer requirements anywhere in the continental United States. Internationally, we utilize both rail and truck refrigerated transportation to domestic ports, where consolidations take place to transport to foreign destinations.
PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS
We have filed a number of patents relating to our processes and products that either have been approved or are in the process of review. Because we do a significant amount of brand name and product line advertising to promote our products, we consider the protection of our trademarks to be important to our marketing efforts and have registered and applied for the registration of a number of trademarks. We also have developed non-public proprietary information regarding our production processes and other product-related matters. We utilize internal procedures and safeguards to protect the confidentiality of such information and, where appropriate, seek patent and/or other protection for the technology we utilize.
INDUSTRY PRACTICES
Our agreements with customers are generally short-term, primarily due to the nature of our products, industry practices and fluctuations in supply, demand and price for such products. In certain instances where we are selling further processed products to large customers, we may enter into written agreements whereby we will act as the exclusive or preferred supplier to the customer, with pricing terms that are either fixed or variable.
AVAILABILITY OF SEC FILINGS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS ON INTERNET WEBSITE
We maintain an internet website for investors at http://ir.tyson.com. On this website, we make available, free of charge, annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) reports, and all amendments to any of those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also available on the website for investors are the Corporate Governance Principles, Audit Committee charter, Compensation and Leadership Development Committee charter, Governance and Nominating Committee charter, Strategy and Acquisitions Committee charter, Code of Conduct and Whistleblower Policy. Our corporate governance documents are available in print, free of charge to any shareholder who requests them.

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Certain information in this report constitutes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, current views and estimates of our outlook for fiscal 2018, other future economic circumstances, industry conditions in domestic and international markets, our performance and financial results (e.g., debt levels, return on invested capital, value-added product growth, capital expenditures, tax rates, access to foreign markets and dividend policy). These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and experiences to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. We wish to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Among the factors that may cause actual results and experiences to differ from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are the following: (i) fluctuations in the cost and availability of inputs and raw materials, such as live cattle, live swine, feed grains (including corn and soybean meal) and energy; (ii) market conditions for finished products, including competition from other global and domestic food processors, supply and pricing of competing products and alternative proteins and demand for alternative proteins; (iii) outbreak of a livestock disease (such as avian influenza (AI) or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)), which could have an adverse effect on livestock we own, the availability of livestock we purchase, consumer perception of certain protein products or our ability to access certain domestic and foreign markets; (iv) the integration of AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, Inc.; (v) the effectiveness of our financial fitness program; (vi) the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system; (vii) access to foreign markets together with foreign economic conditions, including currency fluctuations, import/export restrictions and foreign politics; (viii) changes in availability and relative costs of labor and contract growers and our ability to maintain good relationships with employees, labor unions, contract growers and independent producers providing us livestock; (ix) issues related to food safety, including costs resulting from product recalls, regulatory compliance and any related claims or litigation; (x) changes in consumer preference and diets and our ability to identify and react to consumer trends; (xi) effectiveness of advertising and marketing programs; (xii) our ability to leverage brand value propositions; (xiii) risks associated with leverage, including cost increases due to rising interest rates or changes in debt ratings or outlook; (xiv) impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or indefinite life intangible assets; (xv) compliance with and changes to regulations and laws (both domestic and foreign), including changes in accounting standards, tax laws, environmental laws, agricultural laws and occupational, health and safety laws; (xvi) adverse results from litigation; (xvii) cyber incidents, security breaches or other disruptions of our information technology systems; (xviii) our ability to make effective acquisitions or joint ventures and successfully integrate newly acquired businesses into existing operations; (xix) risks associated with our commodity purchasing activities; (xx) the effect of, or changes in, general economic conditions; (xxi) significant marketing plan changes by large customers or loss of one or more large customers; (xxii) impacts on our operations caused by factors and forces beyond our control, such as natural disasters, fire, bioterrorism, pandemics or extreme weather; (xxiii) failure to maximize or assert our intellectual property rights; (xxiv) our participation in a multiemployer pension plan; (xxv) the Tyson Limited Partnership’s ability to exercise significant control over the Company; (xxvi) effects related to changes in tax rates, valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, or tax laws and their interpretation; (xxvii) volatility in capital markets or interest rates; and (xxviii) those factors listed under Item 1A. “Risk Factors.”
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
These risks, which should be considered carefully with the information provided elsewhere in this report, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Fluctuations in commodity prices and in the availability of raw materials, especially feed grains, live cattle, live swine and other inputs could negatively impact our earnings.
Our results of operations and financial condition, as well as the selling prices for our products, are dependent upon the cost and supply of commodities and raw materials such as beef, pork, poultry, corn, soybean, packaging materials and energy and, to a lesser extent, cheese, fruit, seasoning blends, flour, corn syrup, corn oils, butter and sugar. Corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients, for instance, represented roughly 55% of our cost of growing a live chicken in fiscal 2017. Production and pricing of these commodities are determined by constantly changing market forces of supply and demand over which we have limited or no control. Such factors include, among other things, weather patterns throughout the world, outbreaks of disease, the global level of supply inventories and demand for grains and other feed ingredients, as well as agricultural and energy policies of domestic and foreign governments.
Volatility in our commodity and raw material costs directly impact our gross margin and profitability. The Company’s objective is to offset commodity price increases with pricing actions over time. However, we may not be able to increase our product prices enough to sufficiently offset increased raw material costs due to consumer price sensitivity or the pricing postures of our competitors. In addition, if we increase prices to offset higher costs, we could experience lower demand for our products and sales volumes. Conversely, decreases in our commodity and other input costs may create pressure on us to decrease our prices. While we use derivative financial instruments, primarily futures and options, to reduce the effect of changing prices and as a mechanism to procure the underlying commodity, we do not fully hedge against changes in commodities prices.

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Over time, if we are unable to price our products to cover increased costs, to offset operating cost increases with continuous improvement savings or are not successful in our commodity hedging program, then commodity and raw material price volatility or increases could materially and adversely affect our profitability, financial condition and results of operations.
The prices we receive for our products may fluctuate due to competition from other food producers and processors.
The food industry in general is intensely competitive. We face competition from other food producers and processors that have various product ranges and geographic reach. Some of the factors on which we compete include: pricing, product safety and quality, brand identification, innovation, breadth and depth of product offerings, availability of our products (including distribution channels used, such as e-commerce) and competing products, customer service, and credit terms.
From time to time in response to these competitive pressures or to maintain market share, we may need to reduce the prices for some of our products or increase or reallocate spending on marketing, advertising and promotions and new product innovation. Such pressures also may restrict our ability to increase prices in response to raw material and other cost increases. Any reduction in prices as a result of competitive pressures, or any failure to increase prices to offset cost increases, could harm our profit margins. If we reduce prices but we cannot increase sales volumes to offset the price changes, then our financial condition and results of operations will suffer. Alternatively, if we do not reduce our prices and our competitors seek advantage through pricing or promotional changes, our revenues and market share could be adversely affected.
Outbreaks of livestock diseases can adversely impact our ability to conduct our operations and the supply and demand for our products.
Supply of and demand for our products can be adversely impacted by outbreaks of livestock diseases, which can have a significant impact on our financial results. Efforts are taken to control disease risks by adherence to good production practices and extensive precautionary measures designed to ensure the health of livestock. However, outbreaks of disease and other events, which may be beyond our control, either in our own livestock or livestock owned by independent producers who sell livestock to us, could significantly affect demand for our products, consumer perceptions of certain protein products, the availability of livestock for purchase by us and our ability to conduct our operations. Moreover, the outbreak of livestock diseases, particularly in our Chicken segment, could have a significant effect on the livestock we own by requiring us to, among other things, destroy any affected livestock. Furthermore, an outbreak of disease could result in governmental restrictions on the import and export of our products to or from our suppliers, facilities or customers. This could also result in negative publicity that may have an adverse effect on our ability to market our products successfully and on our financial results.
The integration of AdvancePierre may be more difficult, costly or time consuming than expected, and the acquisition may not result in any or all of the anticipated benefits, including cost synergies.
The success of the acquisition of AdvancePierre, including the realization of the anticipated benefits, will depend in part on our ability to successfully integrate AdvancePierre’s businesses in an efficient and effective manner. We may not be able to accomplish this integration process smoothly or successfully. The necessity of coordinating geographically separated organizations, systems and facilities and addressing possible differences in business backgrounds, corporate cultures and management philosophies may increase the difficulties of integration. Failure to effectively integrate the businesses could adversely impact the expected benefits of the acquisition, including cost synergies arising from supply chain efficiencies, merchandising activities and overlapping general and administrative functions.
The integration of two large companies is complex, and we will be required to devote significant management attention and incur substantial costs to integrate AdvancePierre's and Tyson’s business practices, policies, cultures and operations. This diversion of our management’s attention from day-to-day business operations and the execution and pursuit of strategic plans and initiatives could result in performance shortfalls, which could adversely impact the combined company’s business, operations and financial results. The integration process could also result in the loss of key employees, which could adversely impact the combined company’s future financial results.
Furthermore, during the integration planning process, we may encounter additional challenges and difficulties, including those related to, without limitation, managing a larger combined company; streamlining supply chains, consolidating corporate and administrative infrastructures and eliminating overlapping operations; retaining our existing vendors and customers; unanticipated issues in integrating information technology, communications and other systems; and unforeseen and unexpected liabilities related to the acquisition of AdvancePierre. Delays encountered in the integration could adversely impact the business, financial condition and operations of the combined company.
We continue to evaluate our estimates of synergies to be realized from the AdvancePierre acquisition and refine them. Our actual cost savings could differ materially from our current estimates. Actual cost savings, the costs required to realize the cost savings and the source of the cost savings could differ materially from our estimates, and we cannot assure you that we will achieve the full amount of cost savings on the schedule anticipated or at all or that these cost savings programs will not have other adverse effects on our business. In light of these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on our estimated cost savings.

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Finally, we may not be able to achieve the targeted operating or long-term strategic benefits of the AdvancePierre acquisition in a timely manner or at all or could incur higher transition costs than anticipated. An inability to realize the full extent of, or any of, the anticipated benefits of the AdvancePierre acquisition, as well as any delays encountered in the integration process, could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may not realize any or all of the anticipated benefits of our financial fitness program, which may prove to be more difficult, costly, or time consuming than expected.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, our Board of Directors approved a multi-year restructuring program (the “Financial Fitness Program”), which is expected to contribute to the Company’s overall strategy of financial fitness through increased operational effectiveness and overhead reduction. For more information regarding this program, refer to the heading “Overview” set forth in Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this report.
The success of the Financial Fitness Program, including the realization of the anticipated benefits, will depend in part on our ability to successfully implement the program in an efficient and effective manner. The implementation of the Financial Fitness Program may be more difficult, costly, or time consuming than expected, and the Financial Fitness Program may not result in any or all of the anticipated benefits. If we are unable to implement the Financial Fitness Program smoothly or successfully, or we otherwise do not capture the anticipated savings, our business, results of operations and financial condition for future periods could be negatively impacted.
In addition, we may incur higher costs associated with reductions in overhead than anticipated, and the reduction in overhead could result in performance shortfalls. The Financial Fitness Program may become a distraction for our organization and may disrupt our ongoing business operations; cause deterioration in employee morale; disrupt or weaken the internal control structures of the affected business operations; and result in negative publicity which could affect our corporate reputation. If we are unable to successfully manage the negative consequences of the Financial Fitness Program, our business, results of operations and financial condition for future periods could be adversely affected.
We may experience difficulties in implementing an enterprise resource planning system over the next few years.
We are engaged in a multi-year implementation of an enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. Such an implementation is a major undertaking from a financial, management, and personnel perspective. The implementation of the ERP system may prove to be more difficult, costly, or time consuming than expected, and there can be no assurance that this system will continue to be beneficial to the extent anticipated. Any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design and implementation of our new ERP system could adversely affect our ability to process orders, ship products, send invoices and track payments, fulfill contractual obligations, produce financial reports, or otherwise operate our business. As we implement our new ERP system, our exposure to system attacks may be elevated because we will be running old and new processes in parallel and must simultaneously protect both the new system and legacy systems. If we are unable to implement the ERP system smoothly or successfully, or we otherwise do not capture anticipated benefits, our business, results of operations and financial condition for future periods could be negatively impacted. Additionally, our implementation of the ERP system may involve greater utilization of third-party “cloud” computing services in connection with our business operations. Problems faced by us or our third-party “cloud” computing providers, including technological or business-related disruptions, as well as cybersecurity threats, could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition for future periods.
We are subject to risks associated with our international activities, which could negatively affect our sales to customers in foreign countries, as well as our operations and assets in such countries.
In fiscal 2017, we sold products to approximately 117 countries. Major sales markets include Canada, Central America, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Middle East, South Korea and Taiwan. Our sales to customers in foreign countries for fiscal 2017 totaled $4.5 billion, of which $3.9 billion related to export sales from the United States. In addition, we had approximately $217 million of long-lived assets located in foreign countries, primarily Brazil, China, European Union and India, at the end of fiscal 2017.
As a result, we are subject to various risks and uncertainties relating to international sales and operations, including:
imposition of tariffs, quotas, trade barriers and other trade protection measures imposed by foreign countries regarding the importation of beef, pork, poultry, and prepared foods products, in addition to import or export licensing requirements imposed by various foreign countries;
closing of borders by foreign countries to the import of beef, pork, and poultry products due to animal disease or other perceived health or safety issues;
impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations between the United States dollar and foreign currencies, particularly the Brazilian real, the British pound sterling, the Canadian dollar, the Chinese renminbi, the European euro, the Japanese yen and the Mexican peso;
political and economic conditions;
difficulties and costs to comply with, and enforcement of remedies under, a wide variety of complex domestic and international laws, treaties and regulations, including, without limitation, the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and economic and trade sanctions enforced by the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control;

8



different regulatory structures and unexpected changes in regulatory environments;
tax rates that may exceed those in the United States and earnings that may be subject to withholding requirements and incremental taxes upon repatriation;
potentially negative consequences from changes in tax laws; and
distribution costs, disruptions in shipping or reduced availability of freight transportation.
Negative consequences relating to these risks and uncertainties could jeopardize or limit our ability to transact business in one or more of those markets where we operate or in other developing markets and could adversely affect our financial results.
We depend on the availability of, and good relations with, our employees.
We have approximately 122,000 employees, approximately 35,000 of whom are covered by collective bargaining agreements or are members of labor unions. Our operations depend on the availability and relative costs of labor and maintaining good relations with employees and the labor unions. If we fail to maintain good relations with our employees or with the labor unions, we may experience labor strikes or work stoppages, which could adversely affect our financial results.
If we are unable to attract, hire or retain key employees or a highly skilled and diverse global workforce, it could have a negative impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our continued growth requires us to attract, hire, retain and develop key employees, including our executive officers and senior management team, and maintain a highly skilled and diverse global workforce. We compete to attract and hire highly skilled employees and our own employees are highly sought after by our competitors and other companies. Competition could cause us to lose talented employees, and unplanned turnover could deplete our institutional knowledge and result in increased costs due to increased competition for employees.
We depend on contract growers and independent producers to supply us with livestock.
We contract primarily with independent contract growers to raise the live chickens and turkeys processed in our poultry operations. A majority of our cattle and hogs are purchased from independent producers who sell livestock to us under marketing contracts or on the open market. If we do not attract and maintain contracts with growers or maintain marketing and purchasing relationships with independent producers, our production operations could be negatively affected.
If our products become contaminated, we may be subject to product liability claims and product recalls, which could adversely affect our financial results and damage our reputation.
Our products may be subject to contamination by disease-producing organisms or pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and E. coli. These organisms and pathogens are found generally in the environment and there is a risk that one or more, as a result of food processing, could be present in our products. These organisms and pathogens also can be introduced to our products as a result of improper handling at the further-processing, foodservice or consumer level. These risks may be controlled, but may not be eliminated, by adherence to good manufacturing practices and finished product testing. We have little, if any, control over handling procedures once our products have been shipped for distribution. Even an inadvertent shipment of contaminated products may be a violation of law and may lead to increased risk of exposure to product liability claims, increased scrutiny and penalties, including injunctive relief and plant closings, by federal and state regulatory agencies, and adverse publicity, which could exacerbate the associated negative consumer reaction. Any of these occurrences may have an adverse effect on our financial results. In addition, we may be required to recall some of our products if they spoil, become contaminated, are tampered with or are mislabeled. A widespread product recall could result in significant losses due to the costs of a recall, the destruction of product inventory and lost sales due to the unavailability of product for a period of time. Such a product recall also could result in adverse publicity, damage to our reputation, and a loss of consumer confidence in our products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business results and the value of our brands.
Changes in consumer preference and failure to maintain favorable consumer perception of our brands and products could negatively impact our business.
The food industry in general is subject to changing consumer trends, demands and preferences. Trends within the food industry change often, and failure to identify and react to changes in these trends could lead to, among other things, reduced demand and price reductions for our brands and products. We strive to respond to consumer preferences and social expectations, but we may not be successful in our efforts.
We could be adversely affected if consumers lose confidence in the safety and quality of certain food products or ingredients, or the food safety system generally. Prolonged negative perceptions concerning the health implications of certain food products or ingredients or loss of confidence in the food safety system generally could influence consumer preferences and acceptance of some of our products and marketing programs. Continued negative perceptions and failure to satisfy consumer preferences could materially and adversely affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations.

9



We have a number of iconic brands with significant value. Maintaining and continually enhancing the value of these brands is critical to the success of our business. Brand value is based in large part on consumer perceptions. Success in promoting and enhancing brand value depends in large part on our ability to provide high-quality products. Brand value could diminish significantly due to a number of factors, including consumer perception that we have acted in an irresponsible manner, adverse publicity about our products (whether or not valid), our failure to maintain the quality of our products, the failure of our products to deliver consistently positive consumer experiences or the products becoming unavailable to consumers.
Failure to continually innovate and successfully launch new products and maintain our brand image through marketing investment could adversely impact our operating results.
Our financial success is dependent on anticipating changes in consumer preferences, purchasing behaviors and dietary habits and successfully developing and launching new products and product extensions that consumers want in the channels where they shop. We devote significant resources to new product development and product extensions, however we may not be successful in developing innovative new products or our new products may not be commercially successful. To the extent we are not able to effectively gauge the direction of our key markets and successfully identify, develop, manufacture and market new or improved products in these changing markets, such as adapting to emerging e-commerce channels, our financial results and our competitive position will suffer. In addition, our introduction of new products or product extensions may generate litigation or other legal proceedings against us by competitors claiming infringement of their intellectual property or other rights, which could negatively impact our results of operations.
We also seek to maintain and extend the image of our brands through marketing investments, including advertising, consumer promotions and trade spend. Due to inherent risks in the marketplace associated with advertising, promotions and new product introductions, including uncertainties about trade and consumer acceptance, our marketing investments may not prove successful in maintaining or increasing our market share and could result in lower sales and profits. Continuing global focus on health and wellness, including weight management, and increasing media attention to the role of food marketing could adversely affect our brand image or lead to stricter regulations and greater scrutiny of food marketing practices.
Our success in maintaining, extending and expanding our brand image also depends on our ability to adapt to a rapidly changing media environment, including our increasing reliance on social media and online dissemination of advertising campaigns. The growing use of social and digital media increases the speed and extent that information or misinformation and opinions can be shared. Negative posts or comments about us, our brands or our products on social or digital media could seriously damage our reputation and brand image.
We are subject to a variety of legal and regulatory restrictions on how and to whom we market our products, for instance marketing to children, which may limit our ability to maintain or extend our brand image. If we do not maintain or extend our brand image, then our product sales, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Failure to leverage our brand value propositions to compete against private label products, especially during economic downturn, may adversely affect our profitability.
In many product categories, we compete not only with other widely advertised branded products, but also with private label products that generally are sold at lower prices. Consumers are more likely to purchase our products if they believe that our products provide a higher quality and greater value than less expensive alternatives. If the difference in quality between our brands and private label products narrows, or if there is a perception of such a narrowing, consumers may choose not to buy our products at prices that are profitable for us. In addition, in periods of economic uncertainty, consumers tend to purchase more lower-priced private label or other economy brands. To the extent this occurs, we could experience a reduction in the sales volume of our higher margin products or a shift in our product mix to lower margin offerings. In addition, in times of economic uncertainty, consumers reduce the amount of food that they consume away from home at our foodservice customers, which in turn reduces our product sales.
Our level of indebtedness and the terms of our indebtedness could negatively impact our business and liquidity position.
Our indebtedness, including borrowings under our revolving credit facility and commercial paper program, may increase from time to time for various reasons, including fluctuations in operating results, working capital needs, capital expenditures and possible acquisitions, joint ventures or other significant initiatives. Our consolidated indebtedness level could adversely affect our business because:
it may limit or impair our ability to obtain financing in the future;
our credit ratings (or any decrease to our credit ratings) could restrict or impede our ability to access capital markets at desired interest rates and increase our borrowing costs;
it may reduce our flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions or to take advantage of business opportunities that may arise;
a portion of our cash flow from operations must be dedicated to interest payments on our indebtedness and is not available for other purposes; and
it may restrict our ability to pay dividends.

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Our revolving credit and term loan facilities contain affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, may limit or restrict our ability to: create liens and encumbrances; incur debt; merge, dissolve, liquidate or consolidate; make acquisitions and investments; dispose of or transfer assets; change the nature of our business; engage in certain transactions with affiliates; and enter into hedging transactions, in each case, subject to certain qualifications and exceptions. In addition, we are required to maintain minimum interest expense coverage and maximum debt to capitalization ratios.
Our senior notes also contain affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, may limit or restrict our ability to: create liens; engage in certain sale/leaseback transactions; and engage in certain consolidations, mergers and sales of assets.
An impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or indefinite life intangible assets could negatively impact our consolidated results of operations and net worth.
Goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets are initially recorded at fair value and not amortized, but are reviewed for impairment at least annually or more frequently if impairment indicators arise. In assessing the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets, we make estimates and assumptions about sales, operating margins, growth rates, royalty rates, EBITDA multiples, and discount rates based on budgets, business plans, economic projections, anticipated future cash flows and marketplace data. There are inherent uncertainties related to these factors and management’s judgment in applying these factors. Goodwill valuations have been calculated principally using an income approach. The income approach is based on the present value of future cash flows of each reporting unit and are believed to reflect market participant views which would exist in an exit transaction. Indefinite life intangible asset valuations have been calculated principally using relief-from-royalty and excess earnings approaches and are believed to reflect market participant views which would exist in an exit transaction. Under these valuation approaches, we are required to make various judgmental assumptions about appropriate discount rates. Disruptions in global credit and other financial markets and deterioration of economic conditions, could, among other things, cause us to increase the discount rate used in the valuations. We could be required to evaluate the recoverability of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets prior to the annual assessment if we experience disruptions to the business, unexpected significant declines in operating results, divestiture of a significant component of our business or sustained market capitalization declines. These types of events and the resulting analyses could result in impairment charges in the future, which could be substantial. As of September 30, 2017, we had $13.4 billion of goodwill and indefinite life intangible assets, which represented approximately 48% of total assets.
New or more stringent domestic and international government regulations could impose material costs on us and could adversely affect our business.
Our operations are subject to extensive federal, state and foreign laws and regulations by authorities that oversee food safety standards and processing, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, labeling and export of our products. See “Environmental Regulation and Food Safety” in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Changes in laws or regulations that impose additional regulatory requirements on us could increase our cost of doing business or restrict our actions, causing our results of operations to be adversely affected. For example, increased governmental interest in advertising practices may result in regulations that could require us to change or restrict our advertising practices.
Increased government regulations to limit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions as a result of concern over climate change may result in increased compliance costs, capital expenditures and other financial obligations for us. We use natural gas, diesel fuel and electricity in the manufacturing and distribution of our products. Legislation or regulation affecting these inputs could materially affect our profitability. In addition, climate change could affect our ability to procure needed commodities at costs and in quantities we currently experience and may require us to make additional unplanned capital expenditures.
Legal claims, class action lawsuits, other regulatory enforcement actions, or failure to comply with applicable legal standards or requirements could affect our product sales, reputation and profitability.
We operate in a highly-regulated environment with constantly evolving legal and regulatory frameworks. Consequently, we are subject to heightened risk of legal claims or other regulatory enforcement actions. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with existing laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, or agents will not violate our policies and procedures. Moreover, a failure to maintain effective control processes could lead to violations, unintentional or otherwise, of laws and regulations. Legal claims or regulatory enforcement actions arising out of our failure or alleged failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations, including those contained in Item 3, Legal Proceedings and Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 20: Commitments and Contingencies in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could subject us to civil and criminal penalties, including debarment from governmental contracts that could materially and adversely affect our product sales, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. Loss of or failure to obtain necessary permits and registrations could delay or prevent us from meeting current product demand, introducing new products, building new facilities or acquiring new businesses and could adversely affect operating results.

11



The Company is subject to stringent environmental regulation and potentially subject to environmental litigation, proceedings, and investigations.
Our past and present business operations and ownership and operation of real property are subject to stringent federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations pertaining to the discharge of materials into the environment, and the handling and disposition of wastes (including solid and hazardous wastes) or otherwise relating to protection of the environment. Compliance with these laws and regulations, and the ability to comply with any modifications to these laws and regulations, is material to our business. New matters or sites may be identified in the future that will require additional investigation, assessment, or expenditures. In addition, some of our facilities have been in operation for many years and, over time, we and other prior operators of these facilities may have generated and disposed of wastes that now may be considered hazardous. Future discovery of contamination of property underlying or in the vicinity of our present or former properties or manufacturing facilities and/or waste disposal sites could require us to incur additional expenses. The occurrence of any of these events, the implementation of new laws and regulations, or stricter interpretation of existing laws or regulations, could adversely affect our financial results.
We are increasingly dependent on information technology, and our business and reputation could suffer if we are unable to protect our information technology systems against, or effectively respond to, cyber-attacks, other cyber incidents or security breaches or if our information technology systems are otherwise disrupted.
Information technology is an important part of our business operations and we increasingly rely on information technology systems to manage business data and increase efficiencies in our production and distribution facilities and inventory management processes. We also use information technology to process financial information and results of operations for internal reporting purposes and to comply with regulatory, legal and tax requirements. In addition, we depend on information technology for digital marketing and electronic communications between our facilities, personnel, customers and suppliers. Like other companies, our information technology systems may be vulnerable to a variety of disruptions, including but not limited to the process of upgrading or replacing software, databases or components thereof, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, hackers, unauthorized access attempts and other security issues. Attempted cyber-attacks and other cyber incidents are occurring more frequently, are constantly evolving in nature, are becoming more sophisticated and are being made by groups and individuals with a wide range of motives and expertise.
We have implemented and continue to evaluate security initiatives and disaster recovery plans to mitigate our exposure to these risks, but these measures may not be adequate. Any significant failure of our systems, including failures that prevent our systems from functioning as intended or our failure to timely identify or appropriately respond to cyber-attacks or other cyber incidents, could cause transaction errors, processing inefficiencies, loss of customers and sales, have negative consequences on our employees and our business partners, have a negative impact on our operations or business reputation and expose us to liability, litigation and regulatory enforcement actions. In addition, if we are unable to prevent security breaches, we may suffer financial and reputational damage or penalties because of the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information belonging to us or to our business partners, customers, consumers or suppliers. Finally, the disclosure of non-public information through external media channels could lead to the loss of intellectual property or damage our reputation and brand image. Similar risks exist with respect to the third-party vendors that we rely upon for aspects of our information technology support services and administrative functions, including health and benefit plan administration and certain finance and accounting functions, and systems managed, hosted, provided and/or used by third parties and their vendors.
If we pursue strategic acquisitions or divestitures, we may not be able to successfully consummate favorable transactions or successfully integrate acquired businesses.
We periodically evaluate potential acquisitions, joint ventures and other initiatives, and may seek to expand our business through the acquisition of companies, processing plants, technologies, products and services. Acquisitions and joint ventures involve financial and operational risks and uncertainties, including:
challenges in realizing the anticipated benefits of the transaction;
difficulty integrating acquired businesses, technologies, operations and personnel with our existing business;
diversion of management attention in connection with negotiating transactions and integrating the businesses acquired;
difficulty identifying suitable candidates or consummating a transaction on terms that are favorable to us;
challenges in retaining the acquired businesses' customers and key employees;
inability to implement and maintain consistent standards, controls, procedures and information systems;
exposure to unforeseen or undisclosed liabilities of acquired companies; and
the availability and terms of additional debt or equity financing for any transaction.
We may not be able to address these risks and successfully develop these acquired companies or businesses into profitable units. If we are unable to do this, such expansion could adversely affect our financial results.

12



Additionally, from time to time, we may divest businesses that do not meet our strategic objectives or do not meet our growth or profitability targets. We may not be able to complete desired or proposed divestitures on terms favorable to us. Gains or losses on the sales of, or lost operating income from, those businesses may affect our profitability and margins. Moreover, we may incur asset impairment charges related to divestitures that reduce our profitability. Our divestiture activities may present financial, managerial and operational risks. Those risks include diversion of management attention from existing businesses, difficulties separating personnel and financial and other systems, possible need for providing transition services to buyers, adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers and indemnities and potential disputes with the buyers. Any of these factors could adversely affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations. On April 24, 2017, we announced our intent to sell three non-protein businesses, Sara Lee® Frozen Bakery, Kettle and Van’s®, which are all a part of our Prepared Foods segment, as part of our strategic focus on protein-packed brands. We anticipate we will close the transactions by the end of calendar 2017.
Market fluctuations could negatively impact our operating results as we hedge certain transactions.
Our business is exposed to fluctuating market conditions. We use derivative financial instruments to reduce our exposure to various market risks including changes in commodity prices, interest rates and foreign exchange rates. We hold certain positions, primarily in grain and livestock futures, that do not qualify as hedges for financial reporting purposes. These positions are marked to fair value, and the unrealized gains and losses are reported in earnings at each reporting date. Therefore, losses on these contracts will adversely affect our reported operating results. While these contracts reduce our exposure to changes in prices for commodity products, the use of such instruments may ultimately limit our ability to benefit from favorable commodity prices.
Deterioration of economic conditions could negatively impact our business.
Our business may be adversely affected by changes in economic conditions, including inflation, interest rates, access to capital markets, consumer spending rates, energy availability and costs (including fuel surcharges) and the effects of governmental initiatives to manage economic conditions. Any such changes could adversely affect the demand for our products, or the cost and availability of our needed raw materials, cooking ingredients and packaging materials, thereby negatively affecting our financial results.
Disruptions in global credit and other financial markets and deterioration of economic conditions could, among other things:
make it more difficult or costly for us to obtain financing for our operations or investments or to refinance our debt in the future;
cause our lenders to depart from prior credit industry practice and make more difficult or expensive the granting of any amendment of, or waivers under, our credit agreements to the extent we may seek them in the future;
impair the financial condition of some of our customers and suppliers, thereby increasing customer bad debts or non-performance by suppliers;
negatively impact global demand for protein products, which could result in a reduction of sales, operating income and cash flows;
decrease the value of our investments in equity and debt securities, including our marketable debt securities, company-owned life insurance and pension and other postretirement plan assets;
negatively impact our commodity purchasing activities if we are required to record losses related to derivative financial instruments; or
impair the financial viability of our insurers.
The loss of one or more of our largest customers could negatively impact our business.
Our business could suffer significant setbacks in sales and operating income if our customers’ plans and/or markets change significantly or if we lost one or more of our largest customers, including, for example, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., which accounted for 17.3% of our sales in fiscal 2017. Our retail customers typically do not enter into written contracts, and if they do sign contracts, they generally are limited in scope and duration. There can be no assurance that significant customers will continue to purchase our products in the same mix or quantities or on the same terms as in the past. Alternative retail channels, such as convenience stores, dollar stores, drug stores, club stores and Internet-based retailers have increased their market share. This trend towards alternative channels is expected to continue in the future. If we are not successful in expanding sales in alternative retail channels, our business or financial results may be adversely impacted. Many of our customers, such as supermarkets, warehouse clubs and food distributors, have consolidated in recent years, and consolidation is expected to continue throughout the United States and in other major markets. These consolidations have produced large, sophisticated customers with increased buying power who are more capable of operating with reduced inventories, opposing price increases, and demanding lower pricing, increased promotional programs and specifically tailored products. These customers also may use shelf space currently used for our products for their own private label products. Because of these trends, our volume growth could slow or we may need to lower prices or increase promotional spending for our products. The loss of a significant customer or a material reduction in sales to, or adverse change to trade terms with, a significant customer could materially and adversely affect our product sales, financial condition and results of operations.

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Extreme factors or forces beyond our control could negatively impact our business.
Our ability to make, move and sell products is critical to our success. Natural disasters, fire, bioterrorism, pandemic or extreme weather, including droughts, floods, excessive cold or heat, hurricanes or other storms, could impair the health or growth of livestock or interfere with our operations due to power outages, fuel shortages, decrease in availability of water, damage to our production and processing facilities or disruption of transportation channels or unfavorably impact the demand for, or our consumers’ ability to purchase our products, among other things. Any of these factors could have an adverse effect on our financial results.
Failure to maximize or to successfully assert our intellectual property rights could impact our competitiveness.
We consider our intellectual property rights, particularly and most notably our trademarks, but also our trade secrets, patents and copyrights, to be a significant and valuable aspect of our business. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of trademark, trade secret, patent and copyright laws, as well as licensing agreements, third-party nondisclosure and assignment agreements and policing of third-party misuses of our intellectual property. We cannot be sure that these intellectual property rights will be maximized or that they can be successfully asserted. There is a risk that we will not be able to obtain and perfect our own or, where appropriate, license intellectual property rights necessary to support new product introductions.
We cannot be sure that these rights, if obtained, will not be invalidated, circumvented or challenged in the future. In addition, even if such rights are obtained in the United States, the laws of some of the other countries in which our products are or may be sold do not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Our failure to perfect or successfully assert our intellectual property rights could make us less competitive and could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Participation in a Multiemployer Pension Plan could adversely affect our business.
Through our wholly owned subsidiary, Hillshire Brands, we participate in a “multiemployer” pension plan administered by a labor union representing some of its employees. We are required to make periodic contributions to this plan to allow them to meet their pension benefit obligations to their participants. Our required contributions to this fund could increase because of a shrinking contribution base as a result of the insolvency or withdrawal of other companies that currently contribute to this fund, inability or failure of withdrawing companies to pay their withdrawal liability, lower than expected returns on pension fund assets or other funding deficiencies. In the event that we withdraw from participation in this plan, then applicable law could require us to make an additional lump-sum contribution to the plan, and we would have to reflect that as an expense in our consolidated statement of operations and as a liability on our consolidated balance sheet. Our withdrawal liability would depend on the extent of the plan's funding of vested benefits. The multiemployer plan in which we participate is reported to have significant underfunded liabilities. Such underfunding could increase the size of our potential withdrawal liability. In the event a withdrawal or partial withdrawal was to occur with respect to the multiemployer plan, the impact to our consolidated financial statements could be material.
Tyson Limited Partnership can exercise significant control.
As of September 30, 2017, Tyson Limited Partnership (the "TLP") owns 99.985% of the outstanding shares of the Company's Class B Common Stock, $0.10 par value (Class B stock) and the TLP and members of the Tyson family own, in the aggregate, 2.07% of the outstanding shares of the Company's Class A Common Stock, $0.10 par value (Class A stock), giving them, collectively, control of approximately 70.78% of the total voting power of the Company's outstanding voting stock. At this time, the TLP does not have a managing general partner, as such, the management rights of the managing general partner may be exercised by a majority of the percentage interests of the general partners. As of September 30, 2017, Mr. John Tyson, Chairman of the Board of Directors, has 33.33% of the general partner percentage interests, and Ms. Barbara Tyson, a director of the Company, has 11.115% general partner percentage interests (the remaining general partnership interests are held by the Donald J. Tyson Revocable Trust (44.44%) and Harry C. Erwin, III (11.115%)). As a result of these holdings, positions and directorships, the partners in the TLP have the ability to exert substantial influence or actual control over our management and affairs and over substantially all matters requiring action by our stockholders, including amendments to our restated certificate of incorporation and by-laws, the election and removal of directors, any proposed merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets and other corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may also delay or prevent a change in control otherwise favored by our other stockholders and could depress our stock price. Additionally, as a result of the TLP's significant ownership of our outstanding voting stock, we are eligible for “controlled company” exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.
We may incur additional tax expense or become subject to additional tax liabilities.
We are subject to taxes in the United States and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes. Our total income tax expense could be affected by changes in tax rates in various jurisdictions, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities or changes in tax laws or their interpretation. We are also subject to the examination of our tax returns and other tax matters by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these examinations. If a taxing authority disagrees with the positions we have taken, we could face additional tax liability, including interest and penalties, which could adversely affect our financial results.

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Volatility in the capital markets or interest rates could adversely impact our pension costs and the funded status of our pension plans.
We sponsor a number of defined benefit plans for employees in the United States. The difference between plan obligations and assets, which signifies the funded status of the plans, is a significant factor in determining the net periodic benefit costs of the pension plans and our ongoing funding requirements. As of September 30, 2017, the funded status of our defined benefit pension plans was an underfunded position of $195 million, as compared to an underfunded position of $336 million at the end of fiscal 2016. Changes in interest rates and the market value of plan assets can impact the funded status of the plans and cause volatility in the net periodic benefit cost and our future funding requirements. The exact amount of cash contributions made to pension plans in any year is dependent upon a number of factors, including minimum funding requirements.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
We have production and distribution operations in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. We also have sales offices throughout the United States. Additionally, we have sales offices, facilities or participate in joint venture operations in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Venezuela.
 
Number of Facilities
 
Owned

 
Leased

 
Total

Beef Segment Production Facilities
12

 

 
12

Pork Segment Production Facilities
9

 

 
9

Chicken Segment:
 
 
 
 
 
Processing plants(1)
47

 
1

 
48

Rendering plants
9

 

 
9

Blending mills
2

 

 
2

Feed mills
33

 

 
33

Broiler hatcheries
59

 
3

 
62

Breeder houses
457

 
44

 
501

Broiler farm houses
50

 

 
50

Pet treats plant
1

 

 
1

Prepared Foods Segment:
 
 
 
 


Processing plants(1)
38

 
4

 
42

Turkey operation facilities
6

 

 
6

Distribution Centers(2)
12

 
2

 
14

Cold Storage Facilities(2)
51

 
1

 
52

Research and Development Facilities
1

 
1

 
2

 
 
 
Capacity(3)
per week at
September 30, 2017

 
Fiscal 2017
Average Capacity
Utilization

Beef Production Facilities
 
 
162,000 head

 
80
%
Pork Production Facilities
 
 
456,000 head

 
93
%
Chicken Production Facilities
 
 
39 million head

 
89
%
Prepared Foods Processing Facilities
 
 
88 million pounds

 
85
%
(1) 
Certain facilities acquired in the AdvancePierre acquisition produce products that are reported in both the Chicken and Prepared Foods segments. For presentation purposes, the acquired facilities are reflected in the segment that had the majority of the facility’s production. As a result, two facilities were added to the Chicken segment and eight facilities were added to the Prepared Foods segment.
(2) 
Includes a leased Distribution Center and a leased Cold Storage Facility acquired in the AdvancePierre acquisition.
(3)    Capacity per week based on the following: Beef and Pork (six day week) and Chicken and Prepared Foods (five day week).

15



Beef: Beef plants include various phases of harvesting live cattle and fabricating beef products. We also have various plants which have rendering operations along with tanneries and hide treatment operations. The Beef segment includes three case-ready operations that share facilities with the Pork segment. One of the beef facilities contains a tallow refinery.
Pork: Pork plants include various phases of harvesting live hogs and fabricating pork products and allied products. The Pork segment includes three case-ready operations that share facilities with the Beef segment.
Chicken: Chicken processing plants include various phases of harvesting, dressing, cutting, packaging, deboning and further-processing. We also have 29 animal nutrition operations, nine of which are associated with the Chicken rendering plants, 19 within various Chicken processing facilities and one pet treats plant. The blending mills, feed mills and broiler hatcheries have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of the chicken growout operations.
Prepared Foods: Prepared Foods plants process fresh and frozen chicken, turkey, beef, pork and other raw materials into ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components such as flame-grilled hamburgers and Philly steaks, pizza toppings, branded and processed meats, desserts, appetizers, prepared meals, ethnic foods, soups, sauces, side dishes, pizza crusts, flour and corn tortilla products and meat dishes.
In addition, our foreign chicken production operations in China and India include four processing plants, two rendering plants, three feed mills and five broiler hatcheries. The processing plants include various phases of harvesting, dressing, cutting, packaging, deboning and further-processing chicken. The feed mills and broiler hatcheries generally have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of the foreign chicken growout operations.
We believe our present facilities are generally adequate and suitable for our current purposes; however, seasonal fluctuations in inventories and production may occur as a reaction to market demands for certain products. We regularly engage in construction and other capital improvement projects intended to expand capacity and improve the efficiency of our processing and support facilities. We also consider the efficiencies of our operations and may from time to time consider changing the number or type of plants we operate to align with our capacity needs.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Refer to the description of certain legal proceedings pending against us under Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 20: Commitments and Contingencies, which discussion is incorporated herein by reference. Listed below are certain additional legal proceedings involving the Company and/or its subsidiaries.
On January 27, 2017, Haff Poultry, Inc., Craig Watts, Johnny Upchurch, Jonathan Walters and Brad Carr, acting on behalf of themselves and a putative class of broiler chicken farmers, filed a class action complaint against us and certain of our poultry subsidiaries, as well as several other vertically-integrated poultry processing companies, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. On March 28, 2017, a second class action complaint making similar claims on behalf of a similarly defined putative class was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Plaintiffs in the two cases sought to have the matters consolidated, and, on July 10, 2017, filed a consolidated amended complaint styled In re Broiler Chicken Grower Litigation. The plaintiffs allege, among other things, that the defendants colluded not to compete for broiler raising services “with the purpose and effect of fixing, maintaining, and/or stabilizing grower compensation below competitive levels.” The plaintiffs also allege that the defendants “agreed to share detailed data on [g]rower compensation with one another, with the purpose and effect of artificially depressing [g]rower compensation below competitive levels.” The plaintiffs contend these alleged acts constitute violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act and Section 202 of the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921. The plaintiffs are seeking treble damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, costs, and attorneys’ fees on behalf of the putative class. We and the other defendants filed a motion to dismiss on September 8, 2017. That motion is pending.
On April 23, 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Finding and Notice of Violation (NOV) to Tyson Foods, Inc. and our subsidiary, Southwest Products, LLC, alleging violations of the California Truck and Bus Regulation. The NOV alleged that certain diesel-powered trucks operated by us in California did not comply with California’s emission requirements for in-use trucks and that we did not verify the compliance status of independent carriers hired to carry products in California. In January 2016, the EPA proposed that we pay a civil penalty of $283,990 to resolve these allegations. In June 2017, the EPA withdrew this proposal and referred the matter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB). We are cooperating with the CARB and, in July 2017, we signed a tolling agreement with the CARB. The CARB has not yet made a demand in the matter.

16



On June 17, 2014, the Missouri attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against us in the Circuit Court of Barry County, Missouri, concerning an incident that occurred in May 2014 in which some feed supplement was discharged from our plant in Monett, Missouri, to the City of Monett’s wastewater treatment plant allegedly leading to a fish kill in a local stream and odor issues around the plant. In January 2015, a consent judgment was entered that resolved the lawsuit. The judgment required payment of $540,000, which included amounts for penalties, cost recovery and supplemental environmental projects. We subsequently satisfied all these requirements, and the consent judgment was terminated in January 2017. Following a criminal investigation by the EPA into the incident, one of the Company’s subsidiaries, Tyson Poultry, Inc., pled guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the federal Clean Water Act pursuant to a plea agreement conditionally approved on September 27, 2017 by the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Tyson Poultry, Inc. has agreed to pay a $2 million fine, to make a $500,000 community service payment and to fund third-party environmental audits of numerous feed mills and wastewater treatment plants. The court will determine whether to grant final approval of the terms of the plea agreement at a future sentencing hearing to be scheduled following the completion of a pre-sentencing report.
On June 19, 2005, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Environment of the State of Oklahoma filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma against Tyson Foods, Inc., three subsidiaries and six other poultry integrators. The complaint, which was subsequently amended, asserts a number of state and federal causes of action including, but not limited to, counts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and state-law public nuisance theories. Oklahoma alleges that the defendants and certain contract growers who were not joined in the lawsuit polluted the surface waters, groundwater and associated drinking water supplies of the Illinois River Watershed through the land application of poultry litter. Oklahoma’s claims were narrowed through various rulings issued before and during trial and its claims for natural resource damages were dismissed by the district court in a ruling issued on July 22, 2009, which was subsequently affirmed on appeal by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. A non-jury trial of the remaining claims including Oklahoma’s request for injunctive relief began on September 24, 2009. Closing arguments were held on February 11, 2010. The district court has not yet rendered its decision from the trial.
Other Matters: As of September 30, 2017, we had approximately 122,000 employees and, at any time, have various employment practices matters outstanding. In the aggregate, these matters are significant to the Company, and we devote significant resources to managing employment issues. Additionally, we are subject to other lawsuits, investigations and claims (some of which involve substantial amounts) arising out of the conduct of our business. While the ultimate results of these matters cannot be determined, they are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.

17



EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY
Each of our executive officers serve one-year terms from the date of their election, or until their successors are appointed and qualified. No family relationships exist among these officers. The name, title, age (as of September 30, 2017) and calendar year of initial election to executive office of our executive officers are listed below:
Name
 
Title
 
Age
 
Year Elected
Executive Officer
John Tyson
 
Chairman of the Board of Directors
 
64
 
2011
Curt T. Calaway
 
Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer
 
44
 
2012
Sally Grimes
 
Group President Prepared Foods
 
46
 
2014
Thomas P. Hayes
 
President and Chief Executive Officer
 
52
 
2014
Dennis Leatherby
 
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
 
57
 
1994
Mary Oleksiuk
 
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
 
55
 
2014
Doug Ramsey
 
Group President Poultry
 
48
 
2017
Scott Rouse
 
Chief Customer Officer
 
54
 
2017
Stephen Stouffer
 
President Fresh Meats
 
57
 
2013
David L. Van Bebber
 
Executive Vice President and General Counsel
 
61
 
2008
Noel White
 
Group President Fresh Meats & International
 
59
 
2009
John Tyson has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since 1998 and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Company from 2001 until 2006. Mr. Tyson was initially employed by the Company in 1973.
Curt T. Calaway was appointed Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer in 2012, after serving as Vice President, Audit and Compliance since 2008. Mr. Calaway was initially employed by the Company in 2006.
Sally Grimes was appointed Group President, Prepared Foods in August 2017, after serving as President, North American Retail since February 2017, Chief Global Growth Officer and President International since October 2016, President, International and Chief Global Growth Officer since August 2016, and Chief Global Growth Officer since June 2015 following her appointment as President and Global Growth Officer in 2014. Ms. Grimes previously served as Senior Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer and President, Gourmet Food Group of Hillshire Brands since 2012. Hillshire Brands was acquired by the Company in 2014.
Thomas P. Hayes was appointed Chief Executive Officer in December 2016 following his appointment as President in June 2016. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Commercial Officer since June 2015 after being appointed President, Foodservice in 2014. Mr. Hayes previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer of Hillshire Brands since 2012. Mr. Hayes was initially employed by the Sara Lee Corporation, the predecessor to Hillshire Brands, in 2006.
Dennis Leatherby was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in 2008. Mr. Leatherby was initially employed by the Company in 1990.
Mary Oleksiuk was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer in September 2014. Ms. Oleksiuk previously served as Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer for Hillshire Brands since 2012.
Doug Ramsey was appointed Group President, Poultry in August 2017, after serving as President Poultry since March 2017. Mr. Ramsey previously served as Senior Vice President Big Bird/Fowl since 2014, and Senior Vice President and GM Value since 2011. Mr. Ramsey was initially employed by the Company in 1992.
Scott Rouse was appointed Chief Customer Officer in September 2014, after serving as Senior Vice President Customer Development since 2006. Mr. Rouse was initially employed by the Company in 2004.
Stephen R. Stouffer was appointed President, Fresh Meats in 2013, after serving as Senior Vice President, Beef Margin Management since 2012. Mr. Stouffer was initially employed by IBP, inc. in 1982. IBP, inc. was acquired by the Company in 2001.
David L. Van Bebber was appointed Executive Vice President and General Counsel in 2008. Mr. Van Bebber was initially employed by Lane Processing in 1982. Lane Processing was acquired by the Company in 1986.
Noel White was appointed Group President, Fresh Meats/International in August 2017, after serving as President, Poultry since 2013, after serving as Senior Group Vice President, Fresh Meats since 2009. Mr. White was initially employed by IBP, inc. in 1983.

18



PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
We have issued and outstanding two classes of capital stock, Class A stock and Class B stock. Holders of Class B stock may convert such stock into Class A stock on a share-for-share basis. Holders of Class B stock are entitled to 10 votes per share and holders of Class A stock are entitled to one vote per share on matters submitted to shareholders for approval. As of October 28, 2017, there were approximately 20,000 holders of record of our Class A stock and six holders of record of our Class B stock.
DIVIDENDS
Cash dividends cannot be paid to holders of Class B stock unless they are simultaneously paid to holders of Class A stock. The per share amount of the cash dividend paid to holders of Class B stock cannot exceed 90% of the cash dividend simultaneously paid to holders of Class A stock. We have paid uninterrupted quarterly dividends on common stock each year since 1977. In fiscal 2017, the annual dividend rate for Class A stock was $0.90 per share and the annual dividend rate for Class B stock was $0.81 per share. In fiscal 2016, the annual dividend rate for Class A stock was $0.60 per share and the annual dividend rate for Class B stock was $0.54 per share. On November 10, 2017, the Board of Directors increased the quarterly dividend previously declared on August 10, 2017, to $0.30 per share on our Class A stock and $0.27 per share on our Class B stock. The increased quarterly dividend is payable on December 15, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 1, 2017. Also on November 10, 2017, the Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share on our Class A stock and $0.27 per share on our Class B stock, payable on March 15, 2018, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2018. We anticipate the remaining quarterly dividends in fiscal 2018 will be $0.30 and $0.27 per share of our Class A and Class B stock, respectively. This results in an annual dividend rate in fiscal 2018 of $1.20 for Class A shares and $1.08 for Class B shares, or a 33% increase compared to the fiscal 2017 annual dividend rate. We also continue to anticipate our annual dividends to increase approximately $0.10 per share per year.
MARKET INFORMATION
Our Class A stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “TSN.” No public trading market currently exists for our Class B stock. The high and low sales prices of our Class A stock for each quarter of fiscal 2017 and 2016 are represented in the table below.
 
2017
 
2016
 
High

 
Low

 
High

 
Low

First Quarter
$
75.33

 
55.72

 
$
54.42

 
$
42.89

Second Quarter
67.14

 
61.00

 
68.17

 
48.52

Third Quarter
66.87

 
57.20

 
70.44

 
59.45

Fourth Quarter
70.80

 
58.36

 
77.05

 
65.83

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
The table below provides information regarding our purchases of Class A stock during the periods indicated.
Period
Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased

 
Average
Price Paid
per Share

Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced
Plans or Programs

 
Maximum Number of
Shares that May Yet Be
Purchased Under the Plans
or Programs (1)

Jul. 2, 2017 to Jul. 29, 2017
69,962

 
$
61.36


 
27,821,995

Jul. 30, 2017 to Sept. 2, 2017
82,328

 
64.40


 
27,821,995

Sept. 3, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2017
42,451

 
65.57


 
27,821,995

Total
194,741

(2) 
$
63.56


(3) 
27,821,995

(1) 
On February 7, 2003, we announced our Board of Directors approved a program to repurchase up to 25 million shares of Class A common stock from time to time in open market or privately negotiated transactions. On May 3, 2012, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 35 million shares, on January 30, 2014, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 25 million shares and, on February 4, 2016, our Board of Directors approved an increase of 50 million shares under the program. The program has no fixed or scheduled termination date.
(2) 
We purchased 194,741 shares during the period that were not made pursuant to our previously announced stock repurchase program, but were purchased to fund certain Company obligations under our equity compensation plans. These transactions included 178,162 shares purchased in open market transactions and 16,579 shares withheld to cover required tax withholdings on the vesting of restricted stock.
(3) 
These shares were purchased during the period pursuant to our previously announced stock repurchase program.

19



PERFORMANCE GRAPH
The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for our Class A stock, the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index our previous peer group and our current peer group of companies described below.
chart-e8fad1dd5c725df1921.jpg
 
Fiscal Years Ended
 
9/29/12

 
9/28/13

 
9/27/14

 
10/3/15

 
10/1/16

 
9/30/17

Tyson Foods, Inc.
$
100.00

 
$
181.00

 
$
240.79

 
$
285.92

 
$
485.58

 
$
465.00

S&P 500 Index
100.00

 
119.34

 
142.89

 
154.00

 
160.94

 
194.44

Previous Peer Group
100.00

 
121.82

 
140.64

 
154.48

 
174.37

 
171.50

Current Peer Group
100.00

 
115.59

 
132.52

 
140.88

 
160.33

 
159.82

The total cumulative return on investment (change in the year-end stock price plus reinvested dividends), which is based on the stock price or composite index at the end of fiscal 2012, is presented for each of the periods for the Company, the S&P 500 Index, the previous peer group and our current peer group. The changes from our previous peer group to our current peer group was that our previous group included Sanderson Farms and our current peer group includes the addition of the Kraft Heinz Company and The Coca-Cola Company. The complete list of our current peer group includes: Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, Bunge Limited, Campbell Soup Company, ConAgra Foods, Inc., Dean Foods Company, General Mills, Inc., Hormel Foods Corp., Kellogg Co., Kraft Heinz Company, McCormick & Co., Mondelez International Inc., PepsiCo, Inc., Pilgrim's Pride Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, The Hershey Company and The J.M. Smucker Company. The graph compares the performance of the Company's Class A common stock with that of the S&P 500 Index and both peer groups, with the return of each company in the peer groups weighted on market capitalization. The stock price performance of the Company's Class A common stock shown in the above graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
The information in this "Performance Graph" section shall not be deemed to be "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the Securities and Exchange Commission or subject to Regulation 14A or 14C, or to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

20



ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL SUMMARY
in millions, except per share, percentage and ratio data
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
2014

 
2013

Summary of Operations
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sales
$
38,260

 
$
36,881

 
$
41,373

 
$
37,580

 
$
34,374

Operating income
2,931

 
2,833

 
2,169

 
1,430

 
1,375

Net interest expense
272

 
243

 
284

 
125

 
138

Income from continuing operations
1,778

 
1,772

 
1,224

 
856

 
848

Loss from discontinued operation, net of tax

 

 

 

 
(70
)
Net income
1,778

 
1,772

 
1,224

 
856

 
778

Net income attributable to Tyson
1,774

 
1,768

 
1,220

 
864

 
778

Diluted net income per share attributable to Tyson:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Income from continuing operations
4.79

 
4.53

 
2.95

 
2.37

 
2.31

Loss from discontinued operation

 

 

 

 
(0.19
)
Net income
4.79

 
4.53

 
2.95

 
2.37

 
2.12

Dividends declared per share:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Class A
0.975

 
0.650

 
0.425

 
0.325

 
0.310

Class B
0.878

 
0.585

 
0.383

 
0.294

 
0.279

Balance Sheet Data
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cash and cash equivalents
$
318

 
$
349

 
$
688

 
$
438

 
$
1,145

Total assets
28,066

 
22,373

 
22,969

 
23,906

 
12,167

Total debt
10,203

 
6,279

 
6,690

 
8,128

 
2,398

Shareholders’ equity
10,559

 
9,624

 
9,706

 
8,904

 
6,233

Other Key Financial Measures
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Depreciation and amortization
$
761

 
$
705

 
$
711

 
$
530

 
$
519

Capital expenditures
1,069

 
695

 
854

 
632

 
558

EBITDA
3,648

 
3,538

 
2,906

 
1,897

 
1,818

Return on invested capital
16.3
%
 
18.1
%
 
13.4
%
 
11.9
%
 
18.5
%
Effective tax rate for continuing operations
32.3
%
 
31.8
%
 
36.3
%
 
31.6
%
 
32.6
%
Total debt to capitalization
49.1
%
 
39.5
%
 
40.8
%
 
47.7
%
 
27.8
%
Book value per share
$
28.72

 
$
25.67

 
$
24.25

 
$
21.86

 
$
18.13

Stock price high
75.33

 
77.05

 
45.10

 
44.24

 
32.40

Stock price low
55.72

 
42.89

 
37.02

 
27.33

 
15.93

Notes to Five-Year Financial Summary
a.
Fiscal 2017 net income included $103 million pretax expense of AdvancePierre purchase accounting and acquisition related costs, pretax impairment charges of $52 million related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation and $45 million related to the expected sale of a non-protein business and pretax restructuring and related charges of $150 million.
b.
Fiscal 2016 net income included $53 million related to the recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits and audit settlements. In fiscal 2016, we adopted new accounting guidance, retrospectively, requiring classification of debt issuance costs as a reduction of the carrying value of the debt. In doing so, $29 million, $35 million, $50 million and $10 million of deferred issuance costs have been reclassified from Other Assets to Long-Term Debt in our Consolidated Balance Sheets for fiscal 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 respectively. This change is reflected above in total assets, total debt, total debt to capitalization and return on invested capital ratios.
c.
Fiscal 2015 was a 53-week year, while the other years presented were 52-week years. Fiscal 2015 included a $169 million pretax impairment charge related to our China operation, $57 million pretax expense related to merger and integration costs, $59 million pretax impairment charges related to our Prepared Foods network optimization, $12 million pretax charges related to Denison impairment and plant closure costs, $8 million pretax gain related to net insurance proceeds (net of costs) related to a legacy Hillshire Brands plant fire, $21 million pretax gain on the sale of equity securities, $161 million pretax gain on the sale of the Mexico operation, $39 million pretax gain related to the impact of the additional week in fiscal 2015 and $26 million unrecognized tax benefit gain.
d.
Fiscal 2014 included a $42 million pretax impairment charge and other costs related to the sale of our Brazil operation and Mexico's undistributed earnings tax, $197 million pretax expense related to the Hillshire Brands acquisition, integration and costs associated with our Prepared Foods improvement plan, $40 million pretax expense related to the Hillshire Brands post-closing results, purchase price accounting, and costs related to a legacy Hillshire Brands plant fire, $27 million pretax expense related to the Hillshire Brands acquisition financing incremental interest cost and $52 million unrecognized tax benefit gain.
e.
Fiscal 2013 included a $19 million currency translation adjustment gain recognized in conjunction with the receipt of proceeds constituting the final resolution of our investment in Canada. Additionally, in fiscal 2013 we determined our Weifang operation (Weifang) was no longer core to the execution of our strategy in China. In July 2013, we completed the sale of Weifang. Non-cash charges related to the impairment of assets in Weifang amounted to $56 million in fiscal 2013.
f.
Return on invested capital is calculated by dividing operating income by the sum of the average of beginning and ending total debt and shareholders’ equity less cash and cash equivalents.
g.
For the total debt to capitalization calculation, capitalization is defined as total debt plus total shareholders’ equity.
h.
Book value per share is calculated by dividing shareholders’ equity by the sum of Class A and B shares outstanding and the remaining minimum shares that were to be issued from our tangible equity units for each period.

21



i.
"EBITDA" is a Non-GAAP measure and defined as net income less interest income, plus interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA immediately follows.

EBITDA RECONCILIATIONS
A reconciliation of net income to EBITDA is as follows:
in millions, except ratio data
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
2014

 
2013

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Net income
$
1,778

 
$
1,772

 
1,224

 
$
856

 
$
778

Less: Interest income
(7
)
 
(6
)
 
(9
)
 
(7
)
 
(7
)
Add: Interest expense
279

 
249

 
293

 
132

 
145

Add: Income tax expense (a)
850

 
826

 
697

 
396

 
411

Add: Depreciation
642

 
617

 
609

 
494

 
474

Add: Amortization (b)
106

 
80

 
92

 
26

 
17

EBITDA
$
3,648

 
$
3,538

 
$
2,906

 
$
1,897

 
$
1,818

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Total gross debt
$
10,203

 
$
6,279

 
$
6,690

 
$
8,128

 
$
2,398

Less: Cash and cash equivalents
(318
)
 
(349
)
 
(688
)
 
(438
)
 
(1,145
)
Less: Short-term investments
(3
)
 
(4
)
 
(2
)
 
(1
)
 
(1
)
Total net debt
$
9,882

 
$
5,926

 
$
6,000

 
$
7,689

 
$
1,252

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ratio Calculations:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gross debt/EBITDA
2.8x

 
1.8x

 
2.3x

 
4.3x

 
1.3x

Net debt/EBITDA
2.7x

 
1.7x

 
2.1x

 
4.1x

 
0.7x

(a)
Includes income tax expense of discontinued operation.
(b)
Excludes the amortization of debt issuance and debt discount expense of $13 million, $8 million, $10 million, $10 million and $28 million for fiscal 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, as it is included in Interest expense.
EBITDA represents net income, net of interest, income tax and depreciation and amortization. Net debt to EBITDA represents the ratio of our debt, net of cash and short-term investments, to EBITDA. EBITDA and net debt to EBITDA are presented as supplemental financial measurements in the evaluation of our business. We believe the presentation of these financial measures helps investors to assess our operating performance from period to period, including our ability to generate earnings sufficient to service our debt, and enhances understanding of our financial performance and highlights operational trends. These measures are widely used by investors and rating agencies in the valuation, comparison, rating and investment recommendations of companies; however, the measurements of EBITDA and net debt to EBITDA may not be comparable to those of other companies, which limits their usefulness as comparative measures. EBITDA and net debt to EBITDA are not measures required by or calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and should not be considered as substitutes for net income or any other measure of financial performance reported in accordance with GAAP or as a measure of operating cash flow or liquidity. EBITDA is a useful tool for assessing, but is not a reliable indicator of, our ability to generate cash to service our debt obligations because certain of the items added to net income to determine EBITDA involve outlays of cash. As a result, actual cash available to service our debt obligations will be different from EBITDA. Investors should rely primarily on our GAAP results, and use non-GAAP financial measures only supplementally, in making investment decisions.


22



ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPANY
We are one of the world’s largest food companies and a recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson and grown under three generations of family leadership, the Company has a broad portfolio of products and brands like Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, Aidells®, ibp® and State Fair®. Some of the key factors influencing our business are customer demand for our products; the ability to maintain and grow relationships with customers and introduce new and innovative products to the marketplace; accessibility of international markets; market prices for our products; the cost and availability of live cattle and hogs, raw materials and feed ingredients; and operating efficiencies of our facilities.
We operate in four reportable segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. Other primarily includes our foreign chicken production operations in China and India, third-party merger and integration costs and corporate overhead related to Tyson New
Ventures, LLC.
On June 7, 2017, we acquired and consolidated AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, Inc. ("AdvancePierre"), a producer and distributor of value-added, convenient, ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components and other entrées and snacks. AdvancePierre's results from operations subsequent to the acquisition closing are included in the Prepared Foods and Chicken segments.
OVERVIEW
Fiscal year – Our accounting cycle resulted in a 52-week year for both fiscal 2017 and 2016 and a 53-week year for fiscal 2015.
General – Our fiscal 2017 operating income grew 3% compared to fiscal 2016 to a record $2,931 million, which was led by record earnings in our Beef and Pork segments. The Beef segment's operating income improved $530 million and the Pork segment improved $117 million in fiscal 2017 due to favorable market conditions and strong operational execution. Our Chicken segment's lower operating income was impacted by increased operating costs and $56 million of restructuring and related charges. Our Prepared Foods segment's lower operating income was impacted by increased operating costs, impairments of $52 million related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation and $45 million related to the expected sale of a non-protein business and $82 million of restructuring and related charges. In addition, we incurred an incremental $95 million of compensation and benefit integration expense in fiscal 2017, as we continued to integrate and make investments in our talent, and incurred $85 million of AdvancePierre purchase accounting and acquisition related operating costs. Sales increased 4% in fiscal 2017 over fiscal 2016, primarily due to increased sales volumes and increased beef, pork and chicken prices, as well as the net incremental impact of AdvancePierre's sales of $508 million.
Market Environment – According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), domestic protein production (beef, pork, chicken and turkey) increased approximately 3% in fiscal 2017 compared to fiscal 2016. The Beef segment experienced strong export demand and more favorable domestic market conditions associated with an increase in cattle supply. The Pork segment had favorable market conditions associated with strong demand for our pork products and improved export markets. There was stronger demand for our chicken products and reduced feed ingredient costs of $80 million, which benefited the Chicken segment. Our Prepared Foods segment had improved demand for our retail products but experienced a decline in foodservice and higher input costs of $50 million.
Margins – Our total operating margin was 7.7% in fiscal 2017. Operating margins by segment were as follows:
Beef – 5.9%
Pork – 12.3%
Chicken –9.2% (included $56 million of restructuring and related charges)
Prepared Foods – 5.9% (included $52 million impairment related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation, $45 million impairment related to the expected sale of a non-protein business, $82 million of restructuring and related charges and $34 million of purchase accounting and acquisition related costs from the acquisition of AdvancePierre.)
Hillshire Integration – The impact of the The Hillshire Brands Company ("Hillshire Brands") synergies, along with the profit improvement plan related to our legacy Prepared Foods business, had a positive incremental impact of approximately $90 million in fiscal 2017 above the $258 million captured in fiscal 2016 and $322 million captured in fiscal 2015, for a total of $670 million of synergies realized. The majority of these benefits were realized in the Prepared Foods segment and were partially used to invest in innovation, new product launches and supporting the growth of our brands.
Liquidity – During fiscal 2017, we generated $2.6 billion of operating cash flows. At September 30, 2017, we had $1.0 billion of liquidity, which included $318 million of cash and cash equivalents and the availability under our revolving credit facility after deducting amounts outstanding under our commercial paper program.

23




Strategy - In fiscal 2017, we announced our strategy to sustainably feed the world with the fastest growing portfolio of protein-packed brands. We intend to accomplish this by growing our portfolio of protein-packed brands and delivering food at scale, which will be enabled by driving profitable growth with and for our customers through differentiated capabilities and creating fuel for reinvestment through a disciplined financial fitness model.
On June 7, 2017, we acquired all of the outstanding stock of AdvancePierre as part of our overall strategy. The purchase price was equal to $40.25 per share in cash for AdvancePierre's outstanding common stock, or approximately $3.2 billion. We funded the acquisition with existing cash on hand, net proceeds from the issuance of new senior notes, as well as borrowings under our commercial paper program and new term loan facility. AdvancePierre’s results from operations subsequent to the acquisition closing are included in the Prepared Foods and Chicken segments. For further description refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisition and Dispositions.
On April 24, 2017, we announced our intent to sell three non-protein businesses, Sara Lee® Frozen Bakery, Kettle and Van’s®, which are all included in our Prepared Foods segment, as part of our strategic focus on protein-packed brands. We have reclassified the assets and liabilities related to these businesses to assets and liabilities held for sale in our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2017. In the fourth quarter of 2017, we recorded an impairment charge totaling $45 million related to one of these businesses due to a revised estimate of the business’ fair value based on current expected net sales proceeds. The impairment charge was recorded in Cost of Sales in our Consolidated Statement of Income for fiscal 2017, and consisted of goodwill and intangible assets previously classified within assets held for sale. We anticipate we will close the transactions by the end of calendar 2017, or early calendar 2018, and expect to record a net pretax gain as a result of the sale of these businesses. For further description refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisition and Dispositions.
In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, our Board of Directors approved a multi-year restructuring program (the “Financial Fitness Program”), which is expected to contribute to the Company’s overall strategy of financial fitness through increased operational effectiveness and overhead reduction. Through a combination of synergies from the integration of AdvancePierre and additional elimination of non-valued added costs, the Financial Fitness Program is estimated to result in cumulative net savings of $200 million in fiscal 2018, $400 million in fiscal 2019 including new savings of $200 million, and $600 million in fiscal 2020 including additional savings of $200 million. Approximately 50-60% of these net savings, which are focused on supply chain, procurement, and overhead improvements, are expected to be realized in the Prepared Foods segment with the majority of the remaining net savings impacting the Chicken segment. Additionally, we estimate that approximately 75% of the net savings will be reflected in Cost of Sales in our Consolidated Statement of Income, with the remaining in Selling, General and Administrative.

As part of the Financial Fitness Program, we anticipate eliminating approximately 500 positions across several areas and job levels with most of the eliminated positions originating from the corporate offices in Springdale, Arkansas; Chicago, Illinois; and Cincinnati, Ohio. As a result, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, the Company recognized restructuring and related charges of $150 million that consisted of $53 million severance and employee related costs, $72 million technology impairment and related costs, and $25 million for contract termination costs. The Company currently anticipates the Financial Fitness Program will result in cumulative pretax charges, once implemented, of approximately $215 million which consist primarily of severance and employee related costs, asset impairments, accelerated depreciation, incremental costs to implement new technology, and contract termination costs. The following tables set forth the pretax impact of restructuring and related charges incurred in fiscal 2017 in the Consolidated Statements of Income and the pretax impact by our reportable segments. For further description refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 6: Restructuring and Related Charges.
in millions
 
 
 
2017

Cost of Sales
 
$
35

Selling, general and administrative expenses
 
115

Total restructuring and related charges, pretax
 
$
150


24



 
in millions

 
2017 charges

Estimated 2018 charges

Total estimated Financial Fitness Program charges

Beef
$
8

$
6

$
14

Pork
3

2

5

Chicken
56

32

88

Prepared Foods
82

25

107

Other
1


1

Total restructuring and related charges, pretax
$
150

$
65

$
215

        
 
in millions, except per share data
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Net income attributable to Tyson
$
1,774

 
$
1,768

 
$
1,220

Net income attributable to Tyson - per diluted share
4.79

 
4.53

 
2.95

2017 – Included the following items:
$103 million pretax, or ($0.18) per diluted share, of AdvancePierre purchase accounting and acquisition related costs, which included a $36 million purchase accounting adjustment for the amortization of the fair value step-up of inventory, $49 million of acquisition related costs and $18 million of acquisition bridge financing fees.
$150 million pretax, or ($0.15) per diluted share, of restructuring and related charges.
$52 million pretax, or ($0.09) per diluted share, impairment charge related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation.
$45 million pretax, or $0.01 per diluted share, impairment net of tax benefit related to the expected sale of a non-protein business.
2016 – Included the following items:
$53 million post tax, or $0.14 per diluted share, related to recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits and audit settlements.
2015 – Included the following items:
$169 million pretax, or ($0.41) per diluted share, related to an impairment charge in China.
$59 million pretax, or ($0.09) per diluted share, related to Prepared Foods network optimization impairment charges.
$57 million pretax, or ($0.09) per diluted share, related to merger and integration costs.
$12 million pretax, or ($0.02) per diluted share, related to closure and impairment charges related to the ceasing of beef operations at our Denison facility.
$161 million pretax, or $0.24 per diluted share, related to a gain on sale of the Mexico operation.
$39 million pretax, or $0.06 per diluted share, related to the additional week in fiscal 2015.
$26 million post tax, or $0.06 per diluted share, related to recognition of previously unrecognized tax benefits.
$21 million pretax, or $0.03 per diluted share, related to a gain on sale of equity securities.
$8 million pretax, or $0.02 per diluted share, of insurance proceeds (net of costs) related to a legacy Hillshire Brands plant fire.

25



SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Sales
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Sales
$
38,260

 
$
36,881

 
$
41,373

Change in sales volume
1.0
%
 
(4.6
)%
 
 
Change in average sales price
2.7
%
 
(6.5
)%
 
 
Sales growth
3.7
%
 
(10.9
)%
 
 
2017 vs. 2016
Sales Volume – Sales were positively impacted by an increase in sales volume, which accounted for an increase of $477
million. Each segment had an increase in sales volume with the Beef and Prepared Foods segments contributing to the
majority of the increase driven by better demand for our beef products and incremental volumes from the acquisition
of AdvancePierre.
Average Sales Price – Sales were positively impacted by higher average sales prices, which accounted for an increase of $902 million. Each segment had an increase in average sales price with the Pork, Chicken and Prepared Foods segments contributing to the majority of the increase due to strong demand for our pork products, improved mix and higher chicken pricing in our Chicken segment and better product mix in our Prepared Foods segment which was positively impacted by the acquisition of AdvancePierre.
The above amounts include a net increase of $508 million related to the inclusion of AdvancePierre results post
acquisition.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Volume – Sales were negatively impacted by lower sales volume, which accounted for a decrease of $1.9 billion. Each segment had a decline in sales volume primarily attributed to the additional week in fiscal 2015. The decrease in sales volume was also attributable to the divestitures of the Mexico and Brazil chicken production operations in fiscal 2015. When excluding these impacts along with the divestiture of our Heinold Hog Markets business in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, total company sales volume increased 0.1%.
Average Sales Price – Sales were negatively impacted by lower average sales prices, which accounted for a decrease of $2.6 billion. Each segment had a decrease in average sales prices largely due to decreased pricing associated with lower beef, pork, and chicken prices, with the largest decrease in the Beef segment.
Cost of Sales
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Cost of sales
$
33,177

 
$
32,184

 
$
37,456

Gross profit
5,083

 
4,697

 
3,917

Cost of sales as a percentage of sales
86.7
%
 
87.3
%
 
90.5
%
2017 vs 2016
Cost of sales increased $993 million. Higher input cost per pound increased cost of sales $588 million while higher sales volume increased cost of sales $405 million. These amounts include a net increase of $425 million related to the inclusion of AdvancePierre results post acquisition, which included $36 million from the fair value step-up of inventory as part of purchase accounting.
The $588 million impact of higher input cost per pound was primarily driven by:
Increase of approximately $170 million in our Chicken segment related to increase in freight, growout expenses and outside meat purchases, partially offset by a decrease in feed costs of $80 million.
Increase due to impairment charges of $44 million related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation and $45 million related to the expected sale of a non-protein business, in addition to an increase of $17 million related to net costs associated with fires at two chicken plants.
Increase in raw material and other input costs of approximately $50 million in our Prepared Foods segment.
Increase in live hog costs of approximately $40 million in our Pork segment.
Increase of $35 million related to restructuring and related charges.
Increase in input cost per pound related to the acquisition of AdvancePierre on June 7, 2017.
Increase due to net realized derivative losses of $79 million for fiscal 2017, compared to net realized derivative gains of $96 million for fiscal 2016 due to our risk management activities. These amounts exclude offsetting impacts

26



from related physical purchase transactions, which are included in the change in live cattle and hog costs and raw material and feed costs described above. Additionally, cost of sales increased due to net unrealized losses of $40 million for fiscal 2017, compared to net unrealized gains of $11 million for fiscal 2016, primarily due to our Beef segment commodity risk management activities.
Decrease in live cattle costs of approximately $600 million in our Beef segment.
Remainder of net change is mostly due to increased cost per pound from a mix upgrade in the Chicken segment as we increased sales volume in value-added products as well as increased operating costs, freight, and plant variances across all segments, which also included $71 million of compensation and benefit integration expense.
The $405 million impact of higher sales volume was driven by increases in sales volume in all segments, with the majority of the increase in the Beef and Prepared Foods segment.
2016 vs. 2015
Cost of sales decreased by approximately $5.3 billion. Lower input costs per pound decreased cost of sales approximately $3.6 billion and lower sales volume decreased cost of sales approximately $1.7 billion.
The approximate $3.6 billion impact of lower input costs was primarily driven by:
Decrease in live cattle cost of approximately $2.6 billion in our Beef segment.
Decrease in live hog costs of approximately $360 million in our Pork segment.
Decrease in raw material and other input costs of approximately $300 million in our Prepared Foods segment.
Decreases in feed costs of approximately $170 million in our Chicken segment.
Decrease due to net realized derivative gains of $96 million in fiscal 2016, compared to net realized derivative losses of $102 million in fiscal 2015 due to our risk management activities. These amounts exclude offsetting impacts from related physical purchase transactions, which are included in the change in live cattle and hog costs and raw material and feed costs described above. Additionally, cost of sales increased due to net unrealized gains of $11 million in fiscal 2016, compared to net unrealized gains of $80 million in fiscal 2015, primarily due to our Beef, Pork, and Chicken segment commodity risk management activities.
The $1.7 billion impact of lower sales volume was primarily due to the sale of our Mexico chicken production operation in fiscal 2015 along with the additional week in fiscal 2015.
Selling, General and Administrative
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Selling, general and administrative
$
2,152

 
$
1,864

 
$
1,748

As a percentage of sales
5.6
%
 
5.1
%
 
4.2
%
2017 vs 2016
Increase of $288 million in selling, general and administrative was primarily driven by:
Increase of $124 million related to the AdvancePierre acquisition, which was composed of $49 million in acquisition related costs, $37 million in incremental amortization and $38 million from the inclusion of AdvancePierre results post-acquisition.
Increase of $115 million from restructuring and related charges.
Increase of $53 million in employee costs including $34 million in non-restructuring severance related expenses and $24 million compensation and benefit integration expense, which was partially offset by reduced incentive-based compensation.
Increase of $8 million due to an impairment related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation.
Remainder of net change was primarily related to professional fees.
2016 vs. 2015
Increase of $116 million in selling, general and administrative was primarily driven by:
Increase of $88 million related to marketing, advertising and promotion expense to drive sales growth.
Increase of $71 million of employee costs including payroll and stock-based and incentive-based compensation.
Increase of $11 million related to bad debt expense.
Increase of $17 million in all other primarily related to professional fees, information technology costs and rent.
Decrease of $26 million due to a reduction in amortization and other expense related to our intangible assets.
Decrease of $25 million related to fiscal 2015 sale of our chicken production operations in Brazil and Mexico.
Decrease of $20 million of merger and integration costs.

27



Interest Income
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
$
(7
)
 
$
(6
)
 
$
(9
)
2017/2016/2015 – Interest income remained relatively flat due to continued low interest rates.
Interest Expense
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Cash interest expense
$
278

 
$
248

 
$
293

Non-cash interest expense
1

 
1

 

Total Interest Expense
$
279

 
$
249

 
$
293

2017/2016/2015
Cash interest expense primarily included interest expense related to the coupon rates for senior notes and term loans and commitment/letter of credit fees incurred on our revolving credit facilities. The increase in cash interest expense in fiscal 2017 was primarily due to debt issued in connection with the AdvancePierre acquisition. The decrease in cash interest expense in fiscal 2016 was primarily due to a reduction of our debt.
Non-cash interest expense primarily included amounts related to the amortization of debt issuance costs and discounts/premiums on note issuances, offset by interest capitalized.
Other (Income) Expense, net
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
$
31

 
$
(8
)
 
$
(36
)
2017 – Included $28 million of legal costs related to two former subsidiaries of Hillshire Brands, which were sold by Hillshire Brands in 1986 and 1994. Also, included $18 million of bridge financing fees related to the AdvancePierre acquisition and $19 million of income from equity earnings in joint ventures.
2016 – Included $12 million of equity earnings in joint ventures and $4 million in net foreign currency exchange losses.
2015 – Included $12 million of equity earnings in joint ventures and $21 million of gains on the sale of equity securities.
Effective Tax Rate
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
32.3
%
 
31.8
%
 
36.3
%
The effective tax rate on continuing operations was impacted by a number of items which result in a difference between our effective tax rate and the United States statutory rate of 35%. The table below reflects significant items impacting the rate as indicated.
2017
Domestic production activity deduction reduced the rate 3.1%.
State income taxes increased the rate 2.3%.
2016
Domestic production activity deduction reduced the rate 2.6%.
Unrecognized tax benefits activity, mostly related to expiration of statutes of limitations and settlements with taxing authorities, reduced the rate 1.7%.
State income taxes increased the rate 2.7%.
2015
Domestic production activity deduction reduced the rate 3.7%.
Unrecognized tax benefits activity, mostly related to expiration of statutes of limitations, reduced the rate 1.8%.
State income taxes increased the rate 3.1%.
Foreign rate differences and valuation allowances increased the rate 3.8%.


28



SEGMENT RESULTS
We operate in four reportable segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken, and Prepared Foods. Other primarily includes our foreign chicken production operations in China and India, third-party merger and integration costs and corporate overhead related to Tyson New Ventures, LLC.
On June 7, 2017, we acquired AdvancePierre, a producer and distributor of value-added, convenient, ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components and other entrées and snacks. AdvancePierre's results from operations subsequent to the acquisition closing are included in the Prepared Foods and Chicken segments.
The following table is a summary of segment sales and operating income (loss), which is how we measure segment income (loss).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions

 
Sales
 
Operating Income (Loss)
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Beef
$
14,823

 
$
14,513

 
$
17,236

 
$
877

 
$
347

 
$
(66
)
Pork
5,238

 
4,909

 
5,262

 
645

 
528

 
380

Chicken
11,409

 
10,927

 
11,390

 
1,053

 
1,305

 
1,366

Prepared Foods
7,853

 
7,346

 
7,822

 
462

 
734

 
588

Other
349

 
380

 
879

 
(106
)
 
(81
)
 
(99
)
Intersegment Sales
(1,412
)
 
(1,194
)
 
(1,216
)
 

 

 

Total
$
38,260

 
$
36,881

 
$
41,373

 
$
2,931

 
$
2,833

 
$
2,169

Beef Segment Results
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions

 
2017

 
2016

 
Change 2017 vs. 2016

 
2015

 
Change 2016
vs. 2015

Sales
$
14,823

 
$
14,513

 
$
310

 
$
17,236

 
$
(2,723
)
Sales Volume Change
 
 
 
 
1.8
%
 
 
 
(1.1
)%
Average Sales Price Change
 
 
 
 
0.4
%
 
 
 
(14.9
)%
Operating Income (Loss)
$
877

 
$
347

 
$
530

 
$
(66
)
 
$
413

Operating Margin
5.9
%
 
2.4
%
 
 
 
(0.4
)%
 
 
2017 vs. 2016
Sales Volume – Sales volume increased due to improved availability of cattle supply, stronger domestic demand for our beef products and increased exports.
Average Sales Price Average sales price increased as demand for our beef products and strong exports outpaced the increase in live cattle supplies.
Operating Income – Operating income increased due to more favorable market conditions as we maximized our revenues relative to the decline in live fed cattle costs, partially offset by higher operating costs.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Volume – Sales volume decreased due to the additional week in fiscal 2015. When excluding the additional week in fiscal 2015, sales volume increased 0.8% due to increased availability of cattle supply and better demand for our beef products despite a reduction in live cattle processing capacity due to the closure of our Denison, Iowa, facility in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015.
Average Sales Price Average sales price decreased due to higher domestic availability of beef supplies and lower livestock cost.
Operating Income Operating income increased due to more favorable market conditions as we maximized our revenues relative to the decline in live fed cattle cost, in addition to reduced losses from mark-to-market open derivative positions and lower-of-cost-or market inventory adjustments that were incurred in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, partially offset by higher operating costs.

29



Pork Segment Results
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions

 
2017

 
2016

 
Change 2017 vs. 2016

 
2015

 
Change 2016 vs. 2015

Sales
$
5,238

 
$
4,909

 
$
329

 
$
5,262

 
$
(353
)
Sales Volume Change
 
 
 
 
0.6
%
 
 
 
(2.5
)%
Average Sales Price Change
 
 
 
 
6.1
%
 
 
 
(4.4
)%
Operating Income
$
645

 
$
528

 
$
117

 
$
380

 
$
148

Operating Margin
12.3
%
 
10.8
%
 
 
 
7.2
%
 
 
2017 vs. 2016
Sales Volume – Sales volume increased due to strong demand for our pork products and increased exports.
Average Sales Price Average sales price increased as demand for our pork products and strong exports outpaced the increase in live hog supplies.
Operating Income – Operating income increased as we maximized our revenues relative to the live hog markets, partially attributable to stronger export markets and operational and mix performance, which were partially offset by higher operating costs.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Volume – Sales volume decreased due to the divestiture of our Heinold Hog Markets business in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 and the additional week in fiscal 2015. Excluding these impacts, sales volume grew 1.2%, driven by better demand for our pork products.
Average Sales Price Average sale price decreased due to increased live hog supplies and lower livestock cost.
Operating Income – Operating income increased as we maximized our revenues relative to the decline in live hog markets and due to better plant utilization associated with increased volume processed, which were partially offset by higher operating costs, losses incurred in our live hog operation and the additional week in fiscal 2015.

Chicken Segment Results
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions

 
2017

 
2016

 
Change 2017
vs. 2016

 
2015

 
Change 2016
vs. 2015

Sales
$
11,409

 
$
10,927

 
$
482

 
$
11,390

 
$
(463
)
Sales Volume Change
 
 
 
 
1.2
%
 
 
 
(2.6
)%
Average Sales Price Change
 
 
 
 
3.1
%
 
 
 
(1.5
)%
Operating Income
$
1,053

 
$
1,305

 
$
(252
)
 
$
1,366

 
$
(61
)
Operating Margin
9.2
%
 
11.9
%
 
 
 
12.0
%
 
 
2017 vs. 2016
Sales Volume – Sales volume was up due to better demand for our chicken products along with the incremental volume from the AdvancePierre acquisition.
Average Sales Price Average sales price increased due to sales mix changes.
Operating Income – Operating income for fiscal 2017 was below prior year record results due to higher operating costs, which included increased compensation and benefit integration expense of $41 million, $17 million of incremental net costs attributable to two plant fires, in addition to restructuring and related charges of $56 million, partially offset with lower feed ingredient costs of approximately $80 million.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Volume – Sales volume decreased primarily due to the additional week in fiscal 2015, in addition to a planned temporary decrease in production in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 while we transitioned our mix to sell more value-added and less commodity products along with optimizing our mix and our buy versus grow strategy.
Average Sales Price – Average sales price decreased as feed costs declined, partially offset by mix changes.
Operating Income – Operating income was negatively impacted by the additional week in fiscal 2015 along with increases in operating costs and marketing, advertising and promotion expenses, partially offset by lower feed costs of $170 million.

30



Prepared Foods Segment Results
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
Change 2017 vs. 2016

 
2015

 
Change 2016
vs. 2015

Sales
$
7,853

 
$
7,346

 
$
507

 
$
7,822

 
$
(476
)
Sales Volume Change
 
 
 
 
3.2
%
 
 
 
(2.8
)%
Average Sales Price Change
 
 
 
 
3.6
%
 
 
 
(3.4
)%
Operating Income
$
462

 
$
734

 
$
(272
)
 
$
588

 
$
146

Operating Margin
5.9
%
 
10.0
%
 
 
 
7.5
%
 
 
2017 vs. 2016
Sales Volume – Sales volume increased due to improved demand for our retail products and incremental volumes from the AdvancePierre acquisition, partially offset by declines in foodservice.
Average Sales Price Average sales price increased due to better product mix which was positively impacted by the acquisition of AdvancePierre as well as higher input costs of $50 million.
Operating Income – Operating income decreased due to impairments of $52 million related to our San Diego operation and of $45 million related to the expected sale of a non-protein business, $30 million of compensation and benefit integration expense, $34 million related to AdvancePierre purchase accounting and acquisition related costs, $82 million of restructuring and related charges, in addition to higher operating costs at some of our facilities. Additionally, Prepared Foods operating income was positively impacted by $538 million in synergies, of which $97 million was incremental synergies in fiscal 2017 above the $156 million of synergies realized in fiscal 2016 and $285 million realized in fiscal 2015. The positive impact of these synergies to operating income was partially offset with investments in innovation, new product launches and supporting the growth of our brands.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Volume – Sales volume decreased due to the additional week in fiscal 2015 and lower sales volume in the first six months of fiscal 2016 due to changes in sales mix and the carryover effect of the 2015 turkey avian influenza occurrence into the first half of fiscal 2016.
Average Sales Price Average sales price decreased primarily due to a decline in input costs, partially offset by a change in product mix.
Operating Income Operating income increased due to mix changes as well as lower input costs of approximately $300 million, partially offset with higher marketing, advertising, and promotion spend along with the additional week in fiscal 2015. Additionally, Prepared Foods operating income was positively impacted by $441 million in synergies, of which $156 million was incremental synergies in fiscal 2016 above the $285 million of synergies realized in fiscal 2015. The positive impact of these synergies to operating income was partially offset with heavy investments in innovation, new product launches and supporting the growth of our brands.
Other Results
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
Change 2017
vs. 2016

 
2015

 
Change 2016
vs. 2015

Sales
$
349

 
$
380

 
$
(31
)
 
$
879

 
$
(499
)
Operating Loss
(106
)
 
(81
)
 
(25
)
 
(99
)
 
18

2017 vs. 2016
Sales – Sales decreased due to a decline in average sales price and foreign produced sales volume.
Operating loss – Operating loss increased primarily from $43 million of AdvancePierre third-party acquisition related costs, partially offset by better performance at our China operation and reduced other merger and integration costs outside of AdvancePierre.
2016 vs. 2015
Sales Sales decreased due to the sale of the Mexico and Brazil chicken production operations in fiscal 2015.
Operating loss – Operating loss improved due to better performance at our China operation and reduced third-party merger and integration costs partially offset by the results of the Mexico chicken production operation sold in fiscal 2015.


31



LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Our cash needs for working capital, capital expenditures, growth opportunities, the repurchases of senior notes, repayment of term loans and share repurchases are expected to be met with current cash on hand, cash flows provided by operating activities, or short-term borrowings. Based on our current expectations, we believe our liquidity and capital resources will be sufficient to operate our business. However, we may take advantage of opportunities to generate additional liquidity or refinance existing debt through capital market transactions. The amount, nature and timing of any capital market transactions will depend on our operating performance and other circumstances; our then-current commitments and obligations; the amount, nature and timing of our capital requirements; any limitations imposed by our current credit arrangements; and overall market conditions.
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
 
 
in millions
 
 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Net income
$
1,778

 
$
1,772

 
$
1,224

Non-cash items in net income:
 
 
 
 
 
Depreciation and amortization
761

 
705

 
711

Deferred income taxes
(39
)
 
84

 
38

Gain on dispositions of businesses

 

 
(177
)
Impairment of assets
214

 
45

 
285

Stock-based compensation expense
92

 
81

 
69

Other, net
(57
)
 
(34
)
 
71

Net changes in operating assets and liabilities
(150
)
 
63

 
349

Net cash provided by operating activities
$
2,599

 
$
2,716

 
$
2,570

Gain on dispositions of businesses in fiscal 2015 primarily relates to the sale of the Mexico chicken production operation.
Impairment of assets included the following:
2017 – Included a $73 million impairment of assets associated with restructuring and related charges, $45 million impairment related to the expected sale of a non-protein business and an impairment of $51 million related to our San Diego Prepared Foods operation. For further description regarding these charges refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisitions and Dispositions, Note 6: Restructuring and Related Charges and Note 10: Other Income and Charges.
2015 – Included $59 million of impairment charges related to our Prepared Foods network optimization and $169 million of impairments related to our China operation. For further description regarding these charges refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisitions and Dispositions and Note 10: Other Income and Charges.
Other, net increase in fiscal 2015 is primarily driven by non-cash pension expense.
Cash flows associated with changes in operating assets and liabilities:
2017 – Decreased primarily due to higher accounts receivable and inventory, partially offset by increased accounts payable and increased accrued salaries and wages. The higher accounts receivable, inventory and accounts payable balances are primarily attributable to price increases associated with higher input costs and the timing of sales and payments. The increase in accrued salaries and wages is primarily attributable to the restructuring accrual. For further description regarding this accrual refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 6: Restructuring and Related Charges.
2016 – Increased primarily due to decreased inventory and accounts receivable balances and increased accrual for incentive compensation, which were partially offset by decreased accounts payable, increased tax receivable and contributions to pension plans. The decreased inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable balances were largely due to decreased raw material costs and timing of sales and payments.
2015 – Increased primarily due to the decrease in inventory and accounts receivable balances and an increase in taxes payable, partially offset by the decrease in accounts payable. The decreased inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable balances were largely due to decreased raw material costs and timing of sales and payments.


32



Cash Flows from Investing Activities
 
 
 
in millions

 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Additions to property, plant and equipment
$
(1,069
)
 
$
(695
)
 
$
(854
)
(Purchases of)/Proceeds from marketable securities, net
(18
)
 
(9
)
 
14

Acquisitions, net of cash acquired
(3,081
)
 

 

Proceeds from sale of businesses

 

 
539

Other, net
4

 
20

 
31

Net cash used for investing activities
$
(4,164
)
 
$
(684
)
 
$
(270
)
Additions to property, plant and equipment included spending for production growth, safety and animal well-being, in addition to acquiring new equipment, infrastructure replacements and upgrades to maintain competitive standing and position us for future opportunities.
Capital spending for fiscal 2018 is expected to approximate $1.4 billion and will include spending for production growth, safety, animal well-being, infrastructure replacements and upgrades, and operational improvements that will result in production and labor efficiencies, yield improvements and sales channel flexibility.
Purchases of marketable securities included funding for our deferred compensation plans.
Proceeds from sale of businesses primarily included proceeds, net of cash transferred, from the sale of the Mexico and Brazil operations.
Acquisition, net of cash acquired, in fiscal 2017 related to acquiring AdvancePierre as part of our strategy to sustainably feed the world with the fastest growing portfolio of protein-packed brands. AdvancePierre's results from operations subsequent to the acquisition closing are included in the Prepared Foods and Chicken segments. For further description regarding this transaction refer to Part II, Item 8, Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 3: Acquisition and Dispositions.
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
 
 
 
in millions

 
2017

 
2016

 
2015

Payments on debt
$
(3,159
)
 
$
(714
)
 
$
(1,995
)
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt
5,444

 
1

 
501

Borrowings on revolving credit facility
1,810

 
1,065

 
1,345

Payments on revolving credit facility
(2,110
)
 
(765
)
 
(1,345
)
Proceeds from issuance of commercial paper
8,138

 

 

Repayments of commercial paper
(7,360
)
 

 

Payment of AdvancePierre TRA liability
(223
)
 

 

Purchases of Tyson Class A common stock
(860
)
 
(1,944
)
 
(495
)
Dividends
(319
)
 
(216
)
 
(147
)
Stock options exercised
154

 
128

 
84

Other, net
15

 
68

 
17

Net cash provided by (used for) financing activities
$
1,530

 
$
(2,377
)
 
$
(2,035
)
Payments on debt included –
2017 – We extinguished $1,146 million of AdvancePierre's debt, which we assumed in the acquisition, and fully retired the $1,800 million term loan tranche due June 2020, which was issued as part of the AdvancePierre acquisition financing.
2016 – We fully retired the $638 million outstanding balance of our 6.60% senior notes due April 2016.
2015 – We fully retired the $401 million outstanding balance of the 2.75% senior notes due September 2015 and paid $353 million related to the 5-year tranche A term loan facility and $1,172 million related to the 3-year tranche A term loan facility.
Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt and borrowings/payments on revolving credit facility –
2017 – Proceeds from issuance of long-term debt included a $1,800 million term loan and $2,743 million from senior unsecured notes after original issue discounts of $7 million, to fund the AdvancePierre acquisition. In addition, proceeds from issuance of long-term debt included $899 million of senior unsecured notes after original issue discounts of $1 million that was used to repay amounts outstanding under the term loan tranche due June 2020. We had net payments on our revolving credit facility of $300 million in fiscal 2017, which was used for general corporate purposes.

33



2016 – We had borrowings of $1,065 million and payments of $765 million on our revolving credit facility for fiscal 2016. We utilized our revolving credit facility to balance our cash position with the retirement of the 2016 Notes and changes in working capital. Additionally, total debt of our foreign subsidiaries was $7 million at October 1, 2016, $6 million of which is classified as long-term in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
2015 – $500 million from term loans, the full balance of which was used to prepay outstanding borrowings under the 3-year tranche A term loan facility. In addition, we had borrowings and payments on our revolver of $1,345 million for fiscal 2015. We utilized our revolving credit facility to balance our cash position with term loan deleveraging and changes in working capital. Additionally, total debt of our foreign subsidiaries was $10 million at October 3, 2015, all of which is classified as long-term in our Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Proceeds from issuance and repayment of short-term debt in the form of commercial paper –
2017- We had net issuances of $778 million in unsecured short-term promissory notes (commercial paper) pursuant to our commercial paper program. We used the net proceeds from the commercial paper program as partial financing for the AdvancePierre acquisition and for general corporate purposes.
Payments on TRA obligation in the acquisition of AdvancePierre –
2017- AdvancePierre Tax Receivable Agreement (TRA) liability of $223 million was paid to its former shareholders as a result of our assumption of this obligation in the acquisition of AdvancePierre.
Purchases of Tyson Class A common stock include –
$797 million, $1,868 million, and $455 million for shares repurchased pursuant to our share repurchase program in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
$63 million, $76 million and $40 million for shares repurchased to fund certain obligations under our equity compensation plans in fiscal 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
We currently do not plan to repurchase shares, other than to fund obligations under equity compensation programs, until we reach our net debt to EBITDA target of around 2x. We currently anticipate reaching this goal by the third quarter of fiscal 2018.
Dividends paid during fiscal 2017 included a 50% increase to our fiscal 2016 quarterly dividend rate.
Other, net increase in fiscal 2016 is primarily driven by tax benefits associated with stock option exercises.
Liquidity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in millions

 
 
Commitments
Expiration Date
 
Facility
Amount

 
Outstanding Letters of
Credit (no draw downs)

 
Outstanding Amount
Borrowed

 
Amount
Available

Cash and cash equivalents
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$
318

Short-term investments
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3

Revolving credit facility
 
May 2022
 
$
1,500

 
$
8

 
$

 
1,492

Commercial Paper
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
(778
)
Total liquidity
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
$
1,035

Liquidity includes cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments, and availability under our revolving credit facility, less outstanding commercial paper balance.
At September 30, 2017, we had current debt of $906 million, which we intend to repay with cash generated from our operating activities and other liquidity sources.
The revolving credit facility supports our short-term funding needs and letters of credit and also serves to backstop our commercial paper program. The letters of credit issued under this facility are primarily in support of leasing obligations and workers’ compensation insurance programs. Our maximum borrowing under the revolving credit facility during fiscal 2017 was $590 million.
We expect net interest expense will approximate $325 million for fiscal 2018.
At September 30, 2017, approximately $308 million of our cash was held in the accounts of our foreign subsidiaries. Generally, we do not rely on the foreign cash as a source of funds to support our ongoing domestic liquidity needs. Rather, we manage our worldwide cash requirements by reviewing available funds among our foreign subsidiaries and the cost effectiveness with which those funds can be accessed. The repatriation of cash balances from certain of our foreign subsidiaries could have adverse tax consequences or be subject to regulatory capital requirements; however, those balances are generally available without legal restrictions to fund ordinary business operations. United States income taxes, net of applicable foreign tax credits, have not been provided on undistributed earnings of foreign subsidiaries. Our intention is to reinvest the cash held by foreign subsidiaries permanently or to repatriate the cash only when it is tax efficient to do so.
Our ratio of short-term assets to short-term liabilities ("current ratio") was 1.55 to 1 and 1.77 to 1 at September 30, 2017, and October 1, 2016, respectively.

34



Capital Resources
Credit Facility
Cash flows from operating activities and current cash on hand are our primary sources of liquidity for funding debt service, capital expenditures, dividends and share repurchases. We also have a revolving credit facility, with a committed capacity of $1.5 billion, to provide additional liquidity for working capital needs, letters of credit and to backstop our commercial paper program. As of September 30, 2017, we had no outstanding borrowings and $8 million of outstanding letters of credit issued under this facility, none of which were drawn upon, which left $1,492 million available for borrowing. Our revolving credit facility is funded by a syndicate of 41 banks, with commitments ranging from $0.3 million to $106 million per bank. The syndicate includes bank holding companies that are required to be adequately capitalized under federal bank regulatory agency requirements.
Commercial Paper Program
Our commercial paper program provides a low-cost source of borrowing to fund general corporate purposes including working capital requirements. The maximum borrowing capacity under the commercial paper program is $800 million. The maturities of the notes may vary, but may not exceed 397 days from the date of issuance. As of September 30, 2017, $778 million was outstanding under this program with maturities less than 45 days.
Capitalization
To monitor our credit ratings and our capacity for long-term financing, we consider various qualitative and quantitative factors. We monitor the ratio of our net debt to EBITDA as support for our long-term financing decisions. At September 30, 2017, and October 1, 2016, the ratio of our net debt to EBITDA was 2.7x and 1.7x, respectively. Refer to Part II, Item 6, Selected Financial Data, for an explanation and reconciliation to comparable GAAP measures. The increase in this ratio for fiscal 2017 is primarily a result of the incremental debt from the AdvancePierre acquisition.
Credit Ratings
Term Loans: Tranche B due August 2019 and Tranche B due August 2020
Standard & Poor's Rating Services, a Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC business (S&P), credit rating for both term loans is "BBB." Moody’s Investor Service, Inc. (Moody's) credit rating for both term loans is "Baa2." Fitch Ratings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fimlac, S.A. (Fitch) credit rating for both term loans is "BBB." The below table outlines the borrowing spread on the outstanding principal balances of our term loans that correspond to the ratings levels from S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Ratings Level (S&P/Moody's/Fitch)
Tranche B due August 2019 Borrowing Spread

Tranche B due August 2020 Borrowing Spread

BBB+/Baa1/BBB+ or higher
1.250
%
0.750
%
BBB/Baa2/BBB (current level)
1.500
%
0.800
%
BBB-/Baa3/BBB-
1.750
%
1.125
%
BB+/Ba1/BB+
2.000
%
1.375
%
BB/Ba2/BB or lower
2.500
%
1.375
%
Revolving Credit Facility
S&P’s corporate credit rating for Tyson Foods, Inc. is "BBB." Moody’s, senior unsecured, long-term debt rating for Tyson Foods, Inc. is "Baa2." Fitch's issuer default rating for Tyson Foods, Inc. is "BBB." The below table outlines the fees paid on the unused portion of the facility (Facility Fee Rate) and letter of credit fees (Undrawn Letter of Credit Fee and Borrowing Spread) depending on the rating levels of Tyson Foods, Inc. from S&P, Moody's and Fitch.
Ratings Level (S&P/Moody's/Fitch)
Facility Fee
Rate

Undrawn Letter of
Credit Fee and
Borrowing Spread

A-/A3/A- or above
0.100
%
1.000
%
BBB+/Baa1/BBB+
0.125
%
1.125
%
BBB/Baa2/BBB (current level)
0.150
%
1.250
%
BBB-/Baa3/BBB-
0.200
%
1.500
%
BB+/Ba1/BB+ or lower
0.250
%
1.750
%
In the event the rating levels are split, the applicable fees and spread will be based upon the rating level in effect for two of the rating agencies, or, if all three rating agencies have different rating levels, the applicable fees and spread will be based upon the rating level that is between the rating levels of the other two rating agencies.

35



Debt Covenants
Our revolving credit and term loan facilities contain affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, may limit or restrict our ability to: create liens and encumbrances; incur debt; merge, dissolve, liquidate or consolidate; make acquisitions and investments; dispose of or transfer assets; change the nature of our business; engage in certain transactions with affiliates; and enter into hedging transactions, in each case, subject to certain qualifications and exceptions. In addition, we are required to maintain minimum interest expense coverage and maximum debt-to-capitalization ratios.
Our senior notes also contain affirmative and negative covenants that, among other things, may limit or restrict our ability to: create liens; engage in certain sale/leaseback transactions; and engage in certain consolidations, mergers and sales of assets.
We were in compliance with all debt covenants at September 30, 2017.
Pension Plans
As further described in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 15: Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, the funded status of our defined benefit pension plans is defined as the amount the projected benefit obligation exceeds the plan assets. The funded status of the plans is an underfunded position of $195 million at the end of fiscal 2017 as compared to an underfunded position of $336 million at the end of fiscal 2016.
We expect to contribute approximately $38 million of cash to our pension plans in fiscal 2018 as compared to approximately $53 million in fiscal 2017 and $64 million in fiscal 2016. The exact amount of cash contributions made to pension plans in any year is dependent upon a number of factors, including minimum funding requirements. As a result, the actual funding in fiscal 2018 may be different from the estimate.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements material to our financial position or results of operations. The off-balance sheet arrangements we have are guarantees of debt of outside third parties, including leases and grower loans, and residual value guarantees covering certain operating leases for various types of equipment. See Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 20: Commitments and Contingencies for further discussion.

36



CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of September 30, 2017:
 
 
 
in millions

 
Payments Due by Period
 
2018

 
2019-2020

 
2021-2022

 
2023 and thereafter

 
Total

Debt and capital lease obligations:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Principal payments (1)
$
906

 
$
3,274

 
$
1,518

 
$
4,552

 
$
10,250

Interest payments (2)
341

 
613

 
492

 
2,159

 
3,605

Guarantees (3)
22

 
57

 
44

 
15