Ahead Of Bell: Analysts Assess Swine Flu Outbreak

Smithfield Foods also said Sunday that it had found no clinical signs or symptoms of swine flu in its herd or employees at its joint ventures in Mexico.

Goldman kept an "Overweight" rating on Smithfield, confident the company will produce strong margins once it gets past near-term difficulties. He boosted Smithfield's price target to $14 from $12, but said it was "somewhat of a technicality as we are much more confident in the long-term direction of the shares than the magnitude of the change."

Deutsche Bank's Christina McGlone was more pessimistic on Smithfield, saying the pork processor will likely be among the hardest hit by the outbreak "owing to its vertical integration as hog prices will fall."

How swine flu will impact Tyson Foods Inc. and Hormel Foods Corp. is less clear, according to McGlone.

"Value-added portfolios (such as Tyson's prepared foods - 11 percent of sales) and Hormel's pork-based grocery and refrigerated items will likely see lower consumption," she wrote.

She sees the outbreak potentially giving a boost to chicken processors, which could help companies such as Tyson Foods and Sanderson Farms Inc.