Albertsons Stock Rises On Q3 Earnings Beat: Retail Sentiment Brightens

The company also increased its quarterly common stock dividend by 25% to $0.15 per share.

Shares of Albertsons ($ACI) were up 0.86% on Wednesday noon after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, lifting retail sentiment.

Earnings per share came in at $0.69, beating analyst expectations of $0.64, according to Finchat. Revenues stood at $18.8 billion, in line with analyst expectations.

The firm’s identical sales rose 2% in the quarter while digital sales increased 23%.

Albertsons expects fiscal 2024 identical sales growth of 1.8% to 2.0%, compared to a prior forecast of 1.8% to 2.2%. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) is expected to range from $3.95 billion to $3.99 billion, compared to the previous guidance of $3.90 billion and $3.98 billion.

The company also increased its quarterly common stock dividend by 25% to $0.15 per share.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was ‘extremely bullish’ compared to ‘bearish’ a day ago. Message volumes climbed to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high.’

"We delivered solid operating and financial performance in the third quarter of fiscal 2024 in an environment where the consumer remains cautious," said CEO Vivek Sankaran.

Sankaran added that the grocery chain also saw “strong growth” in digital sales and pharmacy operations.

Albertsons filed a lawsuit against Kroger in December after its $25 billion merger fell through, alleging the latter's failure to exercise its “best efforts” to secure regulatory approval of the companies’ agreed merger transaction.

Reuters reported that the grocery chain is reportedly focused on growing its digital sales and retail media business.

Albertsons stock is up 1.17% year-to-date.

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