What Analysts Think of Albertsons Stock Ahead of Earnings
Key Takeaways
Albertsons (
ACI
) is set to report fiscal 2024 third-quarter results Wednesday morning, its first report since the grocery chain’s proposed merger with Kroger (
KR
) fell apart last month after
months of legal challenges
.
Of the seven analysts covering Albertsons tracked by Visible Alpha, three have
“buy” ratings
and four have “hold” ratings. The average
price target
of $23 suggests analysts expect the stock to make back the roughly 15% it lost last year, as all seven have a higher target than its Monday afternoon level of $19.71.
Albertsons is expected to report $18.81 billion in
revenue
for the quarter, up from $18.56 billion last year, according to Visible Alpha. Analysts also expect $318.1 million or $0.54 per share in
net income
, down from $361.4 million or $0.62 per share.
First Report Since Kroger Merger Called Off
This will be
Albertsons’ first report
since its nearly $25 billion
merger
with Kroger was called off last month.
A federal judge sided
with the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
, blocking the merger on the grounds that it would
likely lead to less competition
in the grocery industry, meaning higher prices for consumers and slower wage growth for employees.
The retailers subsequently terminated their merger agreement, and have since
started a new legal fight
. Albertsons sued Kroger, accusing the larger retailer of not doing enough to
resolve the concerns
of regulators, seeking billions in damages. Kroger has said it “looks forward to responding to these baseless claims in court,” and accused Albertsons of being the one to violate their merger agreement.
Both
companies have launched
new
stock buyback
programs after pausing them while trying to get the merger approved, and Albertsons
CEO
Vivek Sankaran said last month that the company would have “additional details” on its future plans “no later than” Wednesday’s earnings call.
Read the original article on
Investopedia
