Bunge beats quarterly estimates, raises 2026 outlook on crush margins

Bunge Global SA beat second-quarter earnings estimates on July 29 and lifted its 2026 outlook after stronger soybean and softseed processing margins boosted results across its processing network. The agribusiness giant reported GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.47, up from $2.61 a year earlier, and adjusted diluted EPS of $2.00, compared with $1.31 in the prior year.

The results underline how much of Bunge’s business depends on the spread between the cost of oilseeds and the value of the products that come out of them. Crush margins, the profit spread from turning soybeans and other oilseeds into meal and oil, have been strong enough to support higher earnings even as crop markets remain shaped by weather risk, trade uncertainty and uneven demand.

Bunge said the better results were driven mainly by its Soybean and Softseed Processing and Refining segments, with solid execution and improving market conditions adding to the lift. The company also repurchased about $250 million of shares in the quarter, completing a $2 billion program tied to its Viterra transaction.

Management raised full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $9.25 to $9.75 per share, from a prior forecast of $9 to $9.50. The move came after Bunge had already increased its outlook in April on strong crush margins and biofuel demand, a sign that the company sees the processing side of the agricultural chain holding up better than some other parts of the commodity business.

That matters well beyond Bunge’s balance sheet. The company buys, stores, processes and moves crops across a global network, so its earnings often provide a read on how soybeans, vegetable oils and animal feed ingredients are flowing through the system. When crush margins are healthy, processors can usually pay more for beans while still earning on oil and meal sales, a dynamic that can support farm incomes and influence pricing in edible oils and livestock feed.

Bunge’s bigger scale also reflects the integration of Viterra, which it completed on July 2, 2025 in a stock-and-cash transaction involving Viterra shareholders including affiliates of Glencore PLC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation. The combination has given Bunge a broader global footprint at a moment when food-and-fuel supply chains are being shaped by biofuel demand, logistics costs and volatile commodity spreads.