en.Wedoany.com Reported - JBS released its second-quarter 2026 earnings on Monday (August 10) and simultaneously announced a CEO transition: current global CEO Gilberto Tomazoni will step down at the end of this year, with Wesley Batista Filho taking over, ending the world's largest animal protein food group's eight-year tenure under non-family leadership.
According to the earnings report, the company recorded record net revenue of $23.9 billion for the quarter, up 14% year-over-year, but profitability declined: adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) fell 18% year-over-year to $1.429 billion, compared with $1.754 billion in the second quarter of 2025, with the margin dropping from 8.4% to 6.0%. The decline was primarily driven by its U.S. beef operations.
The leadership change announcement came just hours before the financial results were released. Wesley Filho, 34, is the son of Wesley Batista, one of the controlling shareholders of the family holding company J&F. He joined JBS around 2013, starting his career in an entry-level position at a slaughterhouse in Colorado, USA, before working in beef exports from São Paulo and being sent to Uruguay, Paraguay, and Canada to oversee local beef operations. He described his time in Uruguay as his "slaughterhouse operations school." In 2018, he returned to Brazil as CEO of JBS Brasil, and from 2020 onward also took charge of the Seara business, during which JBS's net revenue nearly doubled between 2018 and 2021, reaching R$53.8 billion. In 2022, he was promoted to President of Global Operations, and a year later took the helm of JBS USA—the company's largest revenue-generating business segment.
The new CEO takes office as the U.S. beef industry enters a complex phase: cattle supplies have fallen to their lowest level in nearly 70 years, and high live cattle costs continue to erode industry margins. In the quarter, JBS Beef North America posted record revenue of $7.8 billion, up 14.2%, but adjusted EBITDA was -$100 million (a margin of -1.3%). According to the company, live cattle price increases outpaced beef price appreciation, keeping industry spreads under pressure amid tight cattle supplies and limited imports from Mexico.
JBS recorded a net loss of $102 million for the quarter, primarily impacted by non-recurring items, including debt buyback tender premiums and costs ($172 million), antitrust settlements ($133 million), and the final purchase price gain calculation for the acquisition of Mantiqueira Alimentos ($81 million). Excluding these effects, adjusted net income was $218 million, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.20, down from $0.52 in the same period last year.
Domestic operations in Brazil were also affected by live cattle prices. JBS Brasil posted revenue of $4.6 billion for the quarter, up 28%, with adjusted EBITDA of $273 million, up 22.1%—the highest level for a second quarter—but the margin fell from 6.2% to 5.9%, mainly due to a 12% year-over-year increase in average finished cattle prices to approximately R$353 per arroba.
Other business segments partially offset the decline in profitability: Seara revenue grew 18.2% to $2.5 billion, with an EBITDA margin of 12.3%; JBS USA Pork posted adjusted EBITDA of $184 million, up 38%, with a margin of 8.9%; JBS Austrália revenue grew 30% to $2.6 billion, with adjusted EBITDA of $218 million. Free cash flow was positive at $130 million, an improvement of $185 million year-over-year; net leverage stood at 3.10x at quarter-end, above the company's long-term target; the average debt maturity was 15.3 years, with an average cost of 5.7% per year.
Tomazoni will serve as Vice Chairman of the Board starting in January, while also acting as Senior Advisor, Chairman of the Board of Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (PPC), and Chairman of the Board of Instituto J&F. During his tenure, JBS's revenue grew from $49.7 billion to $86.2 billion, an increase of 73%, and the company achieved a listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
In the announcement, Wesley Filho stated that working alongside Tomazoni for over a decade has built a strong working relationship and shared vision between them. As a member of the Batista family, he will face more scrutiny than his predecessor—beyond operational performance, the market will also focus on the group's governance. Under non-family professional leadership, JBS restored its image, which had been damaged by corruption scandals in the early 2010s, and the new CEO will need to prove each quarter that he can sustain this momentum.
