What to Know About the Pork IPO That Could Kick Off 2025 With a Bang

Smithfield Foods could be one of the year’s biggest U.S. initial public offerings, with the pork producer planning to raise as much as $940 million as it returns to the stock market

The Smithfield, Va.-based company, founded in 1936, was previously listed in the U.S. and then taken private in 2013, when China’s WH Group bought it for $4.87 billon. At that time, the takeover was the biggest acquisition by a Chinese firm of an American one, according to Dealogic data. It went public in Hong Kong the following year. After the U.S. IPO, WH Group would still own about 90% of Smithfield, according to regulatory filings.

The IPO is hitting the market as bankers prepare for a boom in deals, with the Federal Reserve continuing to cut interest rates and the Donald Trump presidency expected to ease regulations. Still, Trump’s presidency is also expected to pose risks for the Chinese-owned pork producer.

Here are five things investors need to know about the deal from Smithfield’s IPO filing.

1. This Could Be the Biggest US Food IPO in Years

Smithfield and are offering 17.4 million shares each at a price range of $23 to $27 apiece, valuing the company as much as $10.7 billion.

The sale of the total 34.8 million shares would, at the top of the price range proposed by the company, raise $940 million. That would make the IPO the biggest in the U.S. by a food company since Swedish milk company Oatly Group’s (OTLY) $1.6 billion listing in 2021—and the largest in the country since Standard Aero’s $1.67 billion October flotation, according to Dealogic.

2. Smithfield Is the Biggest Pork Producer in the US

The company is the largest U.S. pork producer, with a 23% market share as of the fall of 2023, according to the IPO filing, which cited National Hog Farmer. It is also the number two provider of packaged meats in the U.S. , according to Circana, with a 20% market share by volume in a $45 billion U.S. packaged meat market.

Its packaged meat brands, apart from its namesake, include Eckrich, Nathan’s Famous and Farmer John. Smithfield said demand is set to grow as “consumers associate protein with healthiness and energy. ”

It cited Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development data showing that pork made up 24% of all meat protein consumed in the U.S. in 2023, and that market research firm Mintel reports that 86% of consumers anticipate eating the same amount of pork or more in the coming year, according to a survey conducted in February 2024.

3. It’s Profitable, Though Sales Have Fallen

Smithfield reported net income of $581 million on revenue of $10.2 billion for the nine months ended Sept. 29, versus a net loss of $2 million on revenue of $10.6 billion in the year-ago period.

For the three months ended Dec. 29, 2024, Smithfield estimated sales ranging between $3.87 billion and $3.95 billion, down from almost $4 billion in the same period the previous year, due in part to lower sales in Mexico.

4. Higher Tariffs, Immigration Curbs Among Political Risk Factors

President Donald Trump’s policies, including the possibility of new tariffs that could trigger retaliatory penalties and pledges to deport unauthorized immigrants could take a toll on Smithfield, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Exports made up 13% of Smithfield’s total sales through September, and the company has 34,000 employees in the U.S. and about 2,500 in Mexico.

“If new immigration legislation is enacted, such laws may contain provisions that could increase our costs in recruiting, training and retaining employees, increase our costs of complying with federal law in reviewing employees’ immigration status and create employee shortages,” it said in its U.S. filing.

There’s also the question of Smithfield’s ownership. “Continued or increased tension in U.S.-PRC relations or any deterioration in political or trade relations between the United States and the PRC may lead to negative investor sentiment towards companies controlled by shareholders with significant ties to the PRC,” Smithfield said in its filing.

5. Finally, the Ticker Symbol—And the Company’s Plans for the Money

The pork producer has applied to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “SFD.”

Smithfield has said it wants to use its share of the proceeds from the IPO on “capital-preservation investments, including short- and intermediate term investments, interest-bearing investments, investment-grade securities, government securities and money market funds.”