Shares of Kroger Co. tumbled 5.6% in premarket trade Thursday, after the supermarket chain reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit that matched expectations. Net income for the quarter to Feb. 3 rose to $854 million, or 96 cents a share, from $506 million, or 53 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted earnings per share came to 63 cents, in line with the FactSet consensus. Revenue rose to $31.03 billion from $27.61 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $30.82 billion, while same-store sales growth of 1.5% matched expectations. Gross margin was 21.9% of sales, compared with 22.4% in the sequential third quarter. Looking ahead, the company expects 2018 same-store sales growth of 1.5% to 2.0%, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 1.6%. The stock has lost 1.7% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 2.8%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News