Albertsons Stock Plunges 15% on Slashed Outlook
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- Albertsons shares plunged nearly 15% on Thursday after the company slashed its fiscal 2026 outlook, citing softer demand and a more cautious consumer.
- CEO Susan Morris said digital and pharmacy delivered strong growth in Q1, but core grocery faced "increasing pressure" from softer industry unit trends.
- Albertsons cut full-year net income guidance to $1.75–$1.85 per share, down significantly from its prior range of $2.22–$2.32.
- The company lowered adjusted EBITDA guidance to $3.55–$3.625 billion (from $3.85–$3.925B) and now expects identical sales to fall 0.5% to 1.5%, versus prior guidance of flat to up 1%.
- Q1 identical sales dropped 0.8%, and net income fell to $84.7 million (17¢/share) from $236.4 million (41¢/share) a year earlier.
- Morris said the company is "moving decisively" to invest in customer experience to improve traffic, units, and loyalty over time.
- The guidance cut comes amid broader signs U.S. consumers have scaled back grocery trips, with food inflation and high gas prices appearing to hurt spending.
Why it matters: Albertsons' 15% single-day drop wipes out meaningful shareholder value after net income guidance was cut roughly 21% at the midpoint. With digital and pharmacy holding up while core grocery weakens, the company's near-term earnings now hinge on whether planned customer-experience investments can reverse declining identical sales before fiscal 2026 ends.
