Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — Viterra combination and project ramp-up
Management maintained full year adjusted EPS range of $9.25 to $9.75.
Revenue $23.8B (est $23.3B) · EPS $2.56 (est $2.41)
Key quotes
"We also continue to make progress on the opportunities created by our combination with Viterra, where our work is increasingly shifting from integration to value creation."
"As these projects ramp up, the regular course commissioning and start-up costs will increasingly give way to earnings growth from capital that has already been deployed."
"Year-to-date, we generated just over $2 billion of adjusted funds from operations."
Analyst Q&A 8
South America soy crush and working capital
Q (Matthew Lovseth Blair · Tudor, Pickering, Holt): He asked whether improvements in Argentina and Brazil soy crush markets are showing up in Bunge's cash margins and whether that supports confidence for 2027 in South America. He also asked why working capital rose in Q3 and when it might come down.
A: Management said the Viterra combination gave a more complete origination, crushing and export system in Argentina and Brazil, helping agility. They said Argentina was better than Q2, Brazil a little lower, FX moves and improved farmer selling helped. On working capital, management said the increase was driven mainly by price, and they expect elevated levels through the end of the year and likely early into next year because of seasonality.
"A lot of the increase in working capital is driven just purely by price." — John Neppl (CFO)
Q4 guidance drivers and CapEx timing
Q (Benjamin Theurer · Barclays): He asked what drives the higher versus lower end of the Q4 guidance range and how that compares to three months ago. He also asked about confidence in ramping new facilities and the timing and size of their earnings contribution.
A: Management said Q4 is complex with geopolitical conflicts, an Australian crop coming, weather risk and U.S.-China trade uncertainty. They said the implied Q4 decrease is principally due to higher interest cost from carrying more working capital and a slightly higher effective tax rate, while merchandising and milling should perform better. On projects, three of four major CapEx projects are up and running but not meaningful in 2026, and they expect about a $0.50 a share earnings improvement from those projects in 2027.
Biofuel policy and demand effects
Q (Manav Gupta · UBS): He asked whether uncertainty around small refinery exemptions hurt Q3 demand and whether clarity has led to stronger buying from renewable diesel producers.
A: Management said clarity on biofuel policy is good for demand but the SRE uncertainty created volatility and was not the main driver of Q3 results. They said the bigger driver was execution, especially in North America and the West, where they had the beans and qualities to serve customers. They advised watching the reallocation decision after midterms and noted some plant downtime affected demand a little, but they see tight oil demand going forward.
"It wasn't -- while it did create some volatility, it probably wasn't the big driver in Q3 for us." — Gregory Heckman (CEO)
Merchandising and soybean volume trends
Q (Thomas Palmer · JPMorgan): He asked how 3Q merchandising compared to expectations and what will drive the ramp into 4Q. He also asked why soybean segment volume was down year-over-year and the outlook for 4Q.
A: Management said Q3 was affected by harvest timing and larger U.S. corn stocks, and global supply was pulled by the Black Sea conflict which reduced seaborne exports and sunseed oil availability. They said they have large crops coming in Australia and Canada to offset some of that. On soybeans, management said the decline was not viewed as meaningful, that utilization remains strong, and that timing, maintenance and occasional bean tightness can cause fluctuations but they expect robust demand and higher utilization going forward.
"I don't think -- I don't think we looked at that as a meaningful decline." — John Neppl (CFO)
Argentina softseeds and startup costs
Q (Steven Haynes · Morgan Stanley): He asked whether the year-over-year decline in Argentina softseeds was just a tough comp and how the outlook looks. He also asked whether the startup cost headwind in 2026 is roughly equal to the $0.50 contribution expected in 2027.
A: Management said the Argentina softseeds result was a tough comp to a strong year ago and that Argentina had been running hard to supply sun oil but pulled down at the end of the crop year. On startup costs, management said the headwind was a slight drag mainly on interest cost, and at the operating profit line it was roughly a push for the year because early costs were offset by later contributions; they expect the facilities to contribute in 2027.
"At the operating profit line, probably a push because we had some costs early in the year, obviously, and we're contributing slightly here in the latter part of the year." — John Neppl (CFO)
Brazil farmer selling and synergy progress
Q (Pooran Sharma · Stephens): He asked if the weaker Brazilian real has accelerated farmer selling and whether that shifts Chinese demand to Brazil, improving domestic crush margins. He also asked whether there are additional opportunities beyond the cost synergies and for color on commercial/network synergies.
A: Management said the FX move did pick up farmer selling because it lowered costs, and Brazil is an important supplier to China when the economics work; timing and magnitude of U.S.-China trade matter. On synergies, they said they increased the cost synergy forecast from $250 million to $350 million, expect just north of $200 million of savings in 2026, and see about a $0.50 a share contribution in 2027 from additional cost synergies and another $0.50 from commercial synergies, while giving examples like brands, cotton and a more balanced origination-processing network.
"But you may recall, we increased our forecast for cost synergies from $250 million to $350 million that we get eventually." — John Neppl (CFO)
Merchandising outlook and EU deforestation rule
Q (Heather Jones · Heather Jones): She asked if merchandising could exceed 2025 for the full year and whether reaching the high versus low end of guidance depends more on merchandising or softseeds. She also asked how the EU deforestation regime will affect Bunge's global footprint.
A: Management said they expect merchandising to improve year-over-year and they feel good about Q4 and into Q1, though merchandising is hard to forecast and geopolitical uncertainty will drive dynamics. On the EU deforestation rule, management said they believe implementation by year-end will happen, they have worked with regulators, it will be complex, and Bunge's global scale and footprint in Brazil and Argentina position them to meet customer needs.
"I think we believe that implementation by year-end is going to happen." — Gregory Heckman (CEO)
Energy prices and 2027 outlook drivers
Q (Andrew Strelzik · BMO): He asked how higher energy prices are affecting fundamentals and margin structure and the risk to margins if energy prices fall. He also asked for high-level puts and takes for 2027 and what could prevent growth off the base.
A: Management said earlier in the year vegetable oils moved with crude when RVOs were uncertain, but by midyear the veg oil complex decoupled from energy prices as RVO clarification arrived. They said crush margins will be driven by supply and demand and renewable diesel demand rather than energy prices, and they expect oil to remain fairly tight into 2027. On 2027 drivers, management said they control many positive items—cost reductions, commercial synergies and projects—but the environment is very complicated so there remain factors they will watch; they are confident the team will execute on what they can control.
"But as we got toward midyear, you saw a decoupling really of the veg oil complex from energy prices." — John Neppl (CFO)