Albertsons Companies Inc - Class A
Q1 2026 Earnings
Market Reaction
S&P 500 over the same 30 days: +3.67%.
Did ACI Beat Earnings? Q1 2026 Results
Albertsons delivered a modest but clean beat to open fiscal 2025, with pharmacy-fueled top-line momentum and disciplined cost management helping the grocery giant edge past Wall Street expectations on both key metrics. For the 16 weeks ended June 14, 2025, the company posted adjusted EPS of $0.55, ahead of the $0.54 consensus estimate by 2.17%, while revenue of $24.88 billion topped forecasts by 0.76% and grew 2.5% year over year. The primary engine behind the sales gain was a 2.8% increase in identical sales, driven heavily by pharmacy operations, with digital sales surging 25% and the loyalty program swelling to 47.3 million members. Gross margin did compress 70 basis points to 27.1%, reflecting the mix shift toward lower-margin pharmacy sales and rising digital fulfillment costs, a dynamic familiar to <a href="https://247wallst.com/investing/2025/05/29/costco-cost-earnings-stock-split-buzz-builds-as-shares-test-record-highs/">large-format grocery competitors</a> navigating value-conscious consumers. Management responded to the solid quarter by raising identical sales growth guidance to a range of 2.0% to 2.75%, while holding its Adjusted EBITDA outlook steady at $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion.
- Identical sales increased 2.8%, primarily driven by strong pharmacy sales growth
- Digital sales increased 25%
- Loyalty members increased 14% to 47.3 million
- Selling and administrative expenses improved to 25.4% of revenue from 25.9%, driven by lower merger-related costs and operating leverage
- Productivity initiatives including reductions in shrink expense partially offset gross margin pressures
- Net gain on property dispositions of $31.9 million compared to a loss of $5.3 million in prior year
“In the first quarter, we delivered solid operating and financial performance, while investing in our core operations and improving our customer value proposition. Ongoing investments in our strategic priorities drove increased engagement across our digital platforms, evidenced by strong growth in our digital sales, pharmacy operations, and membership in our loyalty program. To fuel these investments, we leveraged our productivity engine to drive efficiencies throughout our operations.”
Albertsons CEO, on the earnings call
Forward Guidance & Outlook
Albertsons raised its identical sales growth guidance to 2.0%–2.75% (from 1.5%–2.5%) for fiscal 2025. All other outlook metrics were maintained: Adjusted EBITDA of $3.8 billion to $3.9 billion (including ~$65 million from the 53rd week), adjusted net income per share of $2.03 to $2.16, effective tax rate of 23.5%–24.5%, and capital expenditures of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.
ACI YoY Financials
Figures from SEC filings and company reports. Not investment advice.