Based on the preliminary work on tensile property characterization of porous materials from the octahedral model theory, the characterization of tensile strength for metallic foams is investigated. Firstly, the material form is extended from reticular pore structure to cellular pore structure. Secondly, the characterized results are compared and analyzed against the well-recognized Gibson-Ashby model theory. Using the derived tensile property characterization relationship, the practical application of the model theory in calculating the tensile strength of metallic foams is discussed. The results show that the octahedral model theory is applicable to both reticular porous materials and cellular porous materials. Both the octahedral model theory and the Gibson-Ashby model theory can be well applied to calculate the tensile strength of metallic foams, and the octahedral model theory achieves superior calculation performance. The theoretical calculation deviation for the former is mostly within 8%, while that for the latter is mostly around 10%. The Gibson-Ashby model theory yields a relatively large calculation deviation close to 20% for reticular porous material, whereas its deviation is smaller for cellular porous material.