Albertsons stock fell on lower expectations, and grocery trends eased

Grocery stocks Albertsons It fell nearly 15% on Thursday after the company cut its 2026 financial forecast, citing weak demand and a more cautious consumer.

The company said it is now “moving decisively” to invest in customer experience because it believes it will improve its growth trajectory.

“In the first quarter, our digital and pharmaceutical businesses continued to deliver strong growth, while core grocery faced increasing pressure from softer industry unit trends and a more cautious consumer,” CEO Susan Morris said in a statement.

The company’s forecast cut comes amid broader evidence that American consumers have reduced their trips to the grocery store. Food price inflation and tightening budgets due to rising gas prices, among other factors, appear to be hurting spending.

For the full year, Albertsons said it now expects net income between $1.75 and $1.85 per share, down significantly from its previous forecast of $2.22 to $2.32 per share.

It also lowered its revised EBITDA guidance to a range of $3.55 billion to $3.625 billion, compared to previous expectations of $3.85 billion to $3.925 billion. It also now expects comparable sales, a similar measure of like-for-like sales, to be in a range of 0.5% to 1.5%, compared to a previous forecast of flat to 1%.

In the first fiscal quarter of the year, the company announced that comparable sales decreased by 0.8%. Albertsons reported net income of $84.7 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $236.4 million, or 41 cents per share, in the same period last year.

However, Morris said in a call with analysts that while the pressure is on consumers Affecting near-term earnings, the company aims to “improve traffic, units, loyalty and the overall trajectory of the business over time.”