Looks like Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) is going to be on the losing end of a food fight today. Not only did fourth-quarter results come in lower than hoped, but next year's guidance also suggests little to no growth on the way.

Sales as reported dropped 9% for the quarter, seeming to miss even the low-end estimate by more than 4%. The performance was pretty even, with the chicken, pork, and prepared foods businesses all posting double-digit drops and the beef segment down in the mid-single digits. Adjusting for the extra week improves comparisons -- chicken was down just 2%, beef was actually up, pork was down in the mid-single digits -- but it's still hard to call that a good performance.

(It's important to note some mitigating and complicating factors. First, the year-ago quarter had an extra week in it. Additionally, the numbers contained a tax benefit and Katrina-induced losses.)

Looking ahead, times could get interesting for this leading meat company, and interesting is rarely good. While Japan seems ready to reopen its markets to American beef on a limited basis, it remains to be seen how competition will play out. Japan switched to Australian beef after banning American imports for fear of mad cow disease, and I don't know that consumers will just automatically switch back to American beef. That's a concern not only for Tyson, but for Smithfield (NYSE:SFD) as well.

Turning to chicken, we have the avian flu outbreak in Asia. That's not a problem in the U.S. poultry business yet, but who knows what could happen? Although properly cooked chicken will not transmit the disease, that's a rational and logical argument, and people are notoriously irrational when they see gaudy headlines.

I find it interesting that Tyson not only guided next year's earnings lower, but put out a rather broad range in the process -- a roughly 30% spread between the high and low. That suggests to this Fool that the company really isn't certain about how the year will play out, which could mean more volatility for the stock.

Although this fiscal year's return on invested capital was better than the past few years', it's still just in the mid-single digits, a level which doesn't often bespeak a long-term winning stock idea. I like Tyson's market position, and I believe worldwide meat consumption will continue to rise, but I'd need a real discount before I'd be interested enough to buy these shares.

Further Foolish food for thought:

Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).