Kroger reaffirms FY23 adjusted EPS $4.45-$4.60, consensus $4.51

“Kroger’s second quarter results demonstrate the resiliency of our value creation model. While industry-wide disinflation continues to impact food at home sales, our team is doing an excellent job managing the effect on our business. Looking forward, we believe inflation will continue to decelerate and the environment will remain challenging for consumers. We therefore expect identical sales without fuel will be at the low end of our full-year guidance range and slightly negative in the second half of the year. This outlook includes an approximately 150 basis points negative impact due to the termination of our agreement with Express Scripts. As demonstrated by our year-to-date results, we believe we have the flexibility within our business model to navigate this environment and remain on track to deliver our 2023 adjusted FIFO operating profit and adjusted net earnings per diluted share guidance.”