Kroger reduced its full-year identical-sales forecast excluding fuel from 1.0–2.0 per cent to 0.2–0.8 per cent, while retaining adjusted earnings guidance of 5.10–5.30 dollars a share. Second-quarter sales reached 34.6 billion dollars, identical sales grew only 0.2 per cent and digital sales increased 20 per cent. The company is countering more cautious consumer spending with cost control and higher-margin operations.
Kroger generated 34.6 billion dollars of sales in the second quarter ended 15 August. Identical sales excluding fuel grew 0.2 per cent, well below the 3.4 per cent rate a year earlier and the 0.9 per cent market estimate reported by Reuters. Adjusted digital sales, by contrast, expanded 20 per cent. The company release and independent report describe the same quarter: slower comparable-store momentum alongside much faster growth through online channels.[1], [2]
The company lowered its fiscal 2026 range for identical sales excluding fuel from 1.0–2.0 per cent to 0.2–0.8 per cent. It left adjusted earnings guidance at 5.10–5.30 dollars a share and its adjusted operating-profit range at 5.0–5.2 billion dollars. Reuters linked the sales revision to softer consumer spending. Kroger also expects changes affecting prescription-drug prices to subtract about 140 basis points from its full-year sales rate.[1], [2]
Second-quarter operating profit was 971 million dollars and gross margin stood at 22.4 per cent. Kroger reported earnings of 1.05 dollars a share, or 1.09 dollars on an adjusted basis. The dividend increased 11 per cent, extending its sequence of annual rises to a twentieth year. Kroger has used 1.2 billion dollars of a 2 billion dollar share-repurchase authorisation this year. Reuters reported that cost discipline and higher-margin businesses limited the effect of weaker sales momentum on profit.[1], [2]
