Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of 'A' to Archer Daniels Midland Company's (ADM) proposed benchmark-sized, two-tranche notes offering.
The debt will be pari passu to the company's existing senior unsecured debt. Net proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including repayment of the $1 billion of notes due August 2026 or outstanding commercial paper borrowings.
ADM's ratings consider its strong business profile, supported by its scale, and operational and geographical diversity. Fitch expects lower readily marketable inventories (RMI)-adjusted EBITDA leverage projected in the low-1x range in 2026, compared to 1.7x in 2025 and 2024, supported by an improved crush environment. Fitch expects ADM to continue to execute a disciplined capital allocation framework supporting long-term RMI-adjusted leverage sustained below 1.5x.
Key Rating Drivers
Improved Outlook and Policy Clarity: Fitch expects ADM's Fitch-adjusted EBITDA to trend close to the $4 billion range in 2026-2027, up from nearly $3 billion in 2025. The improved Outlook is primarily driven by stronger biofuel-related demand with more favorable processing margins in the company's crushing and ethanol businesses. ADM raised its 2026 EPS guidance in both its 1Q26 and 2Q26 earnings releases. Fitch views this as supportive of its 2026 earnings profile, although results remain subject to broader market, geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions.
Fitch expects biofuel policy developments to provide a more supportive backdrop for processors in 2026 after the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2026-2027 Renewable Volume Obligation decision. The decision improved regulatory visibility for the sector, supporting demand for biofuel feedstocks and improved crush margins. The update is an improvement from the more uncertain environment in 2025, as macroeconomic, trade and biofuel policy uncertainty contributed to lower earnings and more cautious farmer and customer behavior.
Deleveraging Expected: Fitch projects ADM's RMI-adjusted EBITDA leverage in the low-1x range in 2026, down from 1.7x in 2025 and 2024, driven by EBITDA growth amid an improved crush environment. Leverage increased over the past two fiscal years due to lower EBITDA from peak-cycle levels, higher debt used to fund acquisitions and elevated share repurchases, and a challenging operating environment marked by cost inflation, weaker global trade flows, tariff risks and biofuel regulatory uncertainties.
Fitch expects ADM to continue to execute a disciplined capital allocation framework and anticipates the company could pursue opportunistic capital deployment through share repurchases and tuck-in M&A over the forecast period, while managing leverage below 1.5x.
Financial Control Remediation: ADM has taken steps to remediate financial control risks following the identification of material weaknesses in its internal controls over financial reporting related to its accounting practices and procedures for intersegment sales, which led to filing delays and restatement of its 2023 10K, and 1Q24 and 2Q24 10Q. ADM reported that it had remediated the material weakness in 2Q25 and received an unqualified audit opinion in the company's YE 2025 financial statements. The company's investigation by the SEC and Department of Justice also concluded in January 2026, with an agreed $40 million settlement payment to the SEC.
Mid-Cycle EBITDA: Fitch takes a through-the-cycle approach, given the sector's inherent cyclicality. Fitch expects ADM's EBITDA to trend close to mid-cycle levels in 2026-2027, up from about $3 billion in 2025, which reflected lower commodity prices and a challenging market environment. This compares to peak-cycle EBITDA in the $5 billion range in 2022-2023, when margins benefited from tight supply and elevated soft commodity prices.
Globally Scaled Agribusiness: ADM benefits from being one of the largest global agribusiness firms with a highly diversified business profile, including leading positions in oilseeds processing, crop-origination services and carbohydrate solutions. The company has also expanded its nutrition business through organic investments and M&A, focusing on higher growth, value-added assets. The company generated around 39% of its 2025 revenues in the U.S. and the remainder from various international markets.
Strategic Initiatives: In recent years, ADM has focused on improving its return on invested capital through new investments, asset divestitures and joint ventures. This strategy has improved operating results and reduced exposure to more volatile businesses. The company formed a new North American animal feed joint venture with Alltech in 1Q26, with the intent of combining expertise between the two businesses and delivering enhanced products and solutions for its customers.
Efficiency Initiatives: ADM is planning for $500 million to $750 million in aggregate cost reductions over a three- to five-year period, which commenced in 2025. It is on track to achieving these targets. The company has also made progress on improving its working capital efficiency, with enhanced inventory management supporting the company's FCF generation capabilities.
Abundant Liquidity Sources: ADM benefits from substantial financial flexibility due to its diversified external liquidity sources for short-term working capital financing, combined with cash, short-term marketable securities, forecast FCF and highly liquid RMI. Fitch views abundant liquidity as crucial given earnings volatility from agricultural cycles, helping ADM mitigate financial risk from higher gross debt balances when working capital needs rise.
Peer Analysis
ADM's Fitch-rated peers include Bunge Global SA (BBB+/Stable). Bunge's rating reflects its position as a leading global agribusiness-focused company and its stronger business profile following the 2025 merger with Viterra Limited. Fitch expects the entity to generate 2026 Fitch-adjusted EBITDA in the high $3 billion range, with improved scale and diversification across regions, operational capabilities and commodities after the merger. Fitch expects Bunge to maintain disciplined financial policies, supporting readily marketable inventories (RMI)-adjusted EBITDA leverage trending at close to 2x over the medium term.
Fitch's Key Rating-Case Assumptions
Revenue in the mid-$80 billion range in 2026, compared to $80.3 billion in 2025.
EBITDA projected at close to the $4 billion range in 2026/2027, up from a trough level of around $3 billion in 2025.
Capital spending in the mid-$1 billion range in 2026 and 2027, with FCF trending in the $500 million-$1 billion range absent significant working capital movements.
RMI-adjusted EBITDA leverage trending in the low-1x range in 2026 and sustained in a similar range over the medium term.
Corporate Rating Tool Inputs and Scores
Fitch scored the issuer as follows, using our Corporate Rating Tool (CRT) to produce the Standalone Credit Profile (SCP):
Business and financial profile factors (assessment, relative importance): management ('bbb', Lower), sector characteristics ('a', Moderate), market and competitive positioning ('a', Higher), diversification and asset quality ('a-?'?, Moderate), company operational characteristics ('a', Moderate), profitability ('a+', Moderate), financial structure ('a', Higher), and financial flexibility ('a-?'?, Moderate).
The quantitative financial subfactors are based on standard CRT financial period parameters: 20% weight for the latest historical year 2025, 40% for the forecast year 2026 and 40% for the forecast year 2027.
The governance assessment of 'good' has no impact.
The operating environment assessment of 'a' has no impact.
The SCP is 'a'.
To derive the Long-Term IDR:
Fitch made no adjustments to the SCP, resulting in an IDR of 'A'.
RATING SENSITIVITIES
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Negative Rating Action/Downgrade
EBITDA declines, meaningfully higher debt levels, and/or a change in financial policy leading to RMI-adjusted EBITDA leverage sustained above mid-1x;
Adverse financial impact related to internal control weaknesses or governmental probes;
Lack of FCF generation lasting over two years.
Factors that Could, Individually or Collectively, Lead to Positive Rating Action/Upgrade
Long-term RMI-adjusted EBITDA leverage sustained below 1.0x;
Optimization of core operations by improving asset utilization and shifting operating portfolio into less-volatile, higher-margin assets.
Liquidity and Debt Structure
ADM has abundant liquidity, with cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, and lines of credit, including its accounts receivable (AR) securitization programs, totaling $12.6 billion as at June 30, 2026 ($10 billion of which was unused). The company maintains various revolving credit agreements totaling $5.1 billion. Maturities vary, with the largest maturities reflecting close to $1.5 billion due December 2028, and $1.9 billion due December 2030. These facilities act as a backstop to ADM's CP program that can be issued in U.S. dollars or euros. ADM had $30 million of CP borrowings outstanding as of 2Q26.
ADM also has domestic and European AR securitization programs that permit the sale of up to $3 billion in receivables, which are derecognized on the balance sheet of which $2.2 billion has been used as of June 30, 2026. Additional support comes from company-reported RMI of agricultural commodities that totaled $6.6 billion as at 2Q26.
Near-term maturities remain manageable, with $1 billion of notes due in August 2026, and around $250 million due in 2027. Fitch expects the proposed bond issuance will be used to address the upcoming August 2026 maturity.
Issuer Profile
ADM is one of the largest global agribusiness firms processing oilseeds, corn, wheat and other agricultural commodities, and is a global leader in sustainable human and animal nutrition.
Summary of Financial Adjustments
Fitch considers RMI-adjusted leverage for credit purposes when evaluating agricultural processors and calculates RMI-adjusted leverage by subtracting the structural inventory required to operate a downstream processing facility on a steady-state basis. This inventory is not generally readily available for liquidation purposes with a going-concern entity. An additional 10% discount is taken for the remaining merchandisable inventory to account for potential basis risk loss.
Fitch adjusted ADM's financial statement by adding back off-balance-sheet receivables securitization and fair value of debt adjusted to reflect debt amount payable at maturity.
Fitch also adjusted for asset impairment, restructuring charges and rail tax credit.
For the purposes of the RMI-adjusted metrics, total debt is defined as total debt with equity credit less RMI. Operating EBITDA is defined as EBITDA after affiliates less RMI interest.
Date of Relevant Committee
21 July 2026
REFERENCES FOR SUBSTANTIALLY MATERIAL SOURCE CITED AS KEY DRIVER OF RATING
The principal sources of information used in the analysis are described in the Applicable Criteria.
MACROECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS AND SECTOR FORECASTS
Click here to access Fitch's latest quarterly Global Corporates Sector Forecasts Monitor data file which aggregates key data points used in our credit analysis. Fitch's macroeconomic forecasts, commodity price assumptions, default rate forecasts, sector key performance indicators and sector-level forecasts are among the data items included.
Climate Vulnerability Signals
The result of our Climate.VS screener did not indicate an elevated risk for ADM.
ESG Considerations
Archer Daniels Midland Company has an ESG Relevance Score of '4' for Financial Transparency. This reflects a number of factors, including: a recent material weakness in the company's internal control over financial reporting related to its accounting practices and procedures for intersegment sales that required restatements for the 2023, 1Q24 and 2Q24 periods. The material weakness was remediated as of its 2Q25 filing, with the company receiving an unqualified audit opinion in its YE 2025 financials.
The company was also subject to an investigation by the SEC and the Department of Justice, which concluded in January 2026 with an agreed $40 million settlement to the SEC. The company is still subject to ongoing shareholder litigation around this matter. This has had a recent negative impact on the credit profile and is relevant to the ratings in conjunction with other factors.
The highest level of ESG credit relevance is a score of '3', unless otherwise disclosed in this section. A score of '3' means ESG issues are credit-neutral or have only a minimal credit impact on the entity, either due to their nature or the way in which they are being managed by the entity. Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores are not inputs in the rating process; they are an observation on the relevance and materiality of ESG factors in the rating decision. For more information on Fitch's ESG Relevance Scores, visit https://www.fitchratings.com/topics/esg/products#esg-relevance-scores.
RATING ACTIONS
Entity / Debt
Rating Type
Rating
Rating Action
Archer Daniels Midland Company
senior unsecured
LT
A
New Rating
Page
of 1
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Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com
PARTICIPATION STATUS
The rated entity (and/or its agents) or, in the case of structured finance, one or more of the transaction parties participated in the rating process except that the following issuer(s), if any, did not participate in the rating process, or provide additional information, beyond the issuer's available public disclosure.
APPLICABLE CRITERIA
Corporates Recovery Ratings and Instrument Ratings Criteria (pub. 03 Aug 2024) (including rating assumption sensitivity)
Corporate Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Jan 2026) (including rating assumption sensitivity)
Sector Navigators - Addendum to the Corporate Rating Criteria (pub. 10 Jan 2026)
APPLICABLE MODELS
Numbers in parentheses accompanying applicable model(s) contain hyperlinks to criteria providing description of model(s).
Corporate Monitoring & Forecasting Model (COMFORT Model), v8.2.0 (1)
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Solicitation Status
Endorsement Policy
ENDORSEMENT STATUS
Archer Daniels Midland Company EU Endorsed, UK Endorsed
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