Albertsons' stock falls after earnings beat expectations but margins decrease

Shares of Albertsons Companies Inc. (ACI) dropped 0.7% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the grocery-store chain reported fiscal third-quarter profit and sales that exceeded expectations but saw a drop in gross margins. Albertsons, which is in the process of being acquired by Kroger Co. (KR), said net income for the quarter to Dec. 2 was $361.4 million, or 62 cents a share, after income of $375.5 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of 79 cents beat the FactSet consensus of 65 cents. Sales grew 2.2% to $18.56 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $18.36 billion. Same-store sales, or sales of stores open at least a year, increased 2.9% to beat expectations of 2.5% growth, citing "strong" pharmacy sales and a 21% jump in its digital business. Gross margin, excluding fuel and LIFO expense, decreased by 0.64 percentage points, citing strong growth in pharmacy operations, which carries lower margin rates, and increases in shrink. Albertsons' stock has slipped less than 0.1% over the past three months through Monday, while Kroger shares have gained 3% and the S&P 500 has rallied 9.9%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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01-09-24 0840ET

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