Stock market today: S&P 500 drops for fifth day as focus shifts to Powell’s speech
Investing.com -- Albertsons (NYSE:ACI) reported better-than-expected results for the fiscal fourth quarter, but its full-year earnings guidance missed estimates, sending its shares down nearly 6% in premarket trading Tuesday.
The U.S. grocery store chain operator posted fourth-quarter earnings of $0.46 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.41. Revenue for the period came in at $18.8 billion, also trumping the consensus forecast of $18.63 billion.
Comparable sales rose 2.3% year-over-year, outperforming both the prior year’s 1% growth and the estimated 1.76% gain.
Adjusted EBITDA declined 6.6% to $855.1 million but still came in above the $835.2 million estimate. Gross margin narrowed to 27.4% from 28% a year earlier, slightly below the projected 27.6%.
"We delivered solid results in the fourth quarter and closed fiscal 2024 with positive momentum as we continued to invest in our Customers for Life strategy," said Vivek Sankaran, CEO of Albertsons.
"While fiscal 2025 will be an investment year, beginning in fiscal 2026 we expect to drive growth consistent with our long-term algorithm of 2+% identical sales and Adjusted EBITDA growth higher than identical sales growth," said Susan Morris, COO and incoming CEO.
Looking ahead, Albertsons expects its fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings per share to range between $2.03 and $2.16, below the consensus estimate of $2.29.
The company forecasts identical sales growth of 1.5% to 2.5%, and adjusted EBITDA between $3.8 billion and $3.9 billion, including around $65 million tied to its 53rd fiscal week.
The company anticipates an effective tax rate between 23.5% and 24.5%, and plans capital expenditures of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.