Start here if you're new
what it is
Albertsons runs 2,270 grocery and drug stores across the U.S.
how it gets paid
Fiscal 2024 (ended Feb 22, 2025): ~$78.4B net sales and other revenue (+2.0% vs. prior year). Illustrative mix: grocery & fresh ~$54.9B (~70%)—round segment rows to the latest 10-K footnotes.
latest reported quarter
Revenue grew 1.5% last year. The $0.72 EPS beat the $0.68 estimate, but the real story is still a 27.2% gross margin and a thin 1.6% net margin.
what just happened
Latest headline quarter: $0.72 adjusted EPS vs. ~$0.68 estimate; $19.1B sales; gross margin still in the high‑20s% area per company materials—verify the exact print before treating 27.2% as gospel.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
50/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
~10.5× trailing GAAP P/E (~$17.29 ÷ ~$1.64 FY2024 EPS)
4.0% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
13.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 63/100 — average
What they do
Albertsons runs 2,270 grocery and drug stores across the U.S.
You get a store network with 2,270 locations and #1 or #2 share in 69% of its metros. That market share (sales position) means your groceries, prescriptions, and coupons all sit in one checkout system. Leaving is painful because the store is already in your weekly routine.
How they make money
~$78.4B
fiscal 2024 net sales & other revenue · +2.0% vs. prior year
Grocery & fresh
~$54.9B
+2.0%
Pharmacy
~$12.6B
+5.0%
Fuel
~$6.0B
+1.0%
Other & digital
$5.1B
+12.0%
Segment dollars are illustrative (~70/16/7/6 style split) scaled to ~$78.4B—reconcile to Albertsons’ latest 10-K segment footnotes.
The products that matter
core store base plus pharmacy counters
Grocery Retail
~$78.4B fiscal 2024 sales · +2.0% growth
it's the whole company. when one segment is the entire business, there is nowhere to hide. if pharmacy and digital sales help traffic but trim mix, you feel it in total results immediately.
entire business
Key numbers
~$78.4B
fiscal 2024 sales
Net sales & other revenue for the year ended Feb 22, 2025—massive top line, thin GAAP margin underneath.
~1.2%
GAAP net margin
~$959M net income on ~$78.4B sales ≈ 1.2¢ per dollar—adjusted figures are higher.
4.0%
dividend yield
You get paid to wait, but the payout matters more when profit margins are this thin.
~10.5×
trailing GAAP P/E
~$17.29 ÷ ~$1.64 FY2024 GAAP diluted EPS—adjusted EPS (~$2.34) implies a lower multiple.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 60 / 100
- long-term debt $6.9B (42% of capital)
- GAAP net margin (FY2024) ~1.2% — about 1.2¢ of each sales dollar after all costs
- return on equity 24% — $0.24 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — return on equity looks solid but long-term debt needs watching.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in ACI 3 years ago → it's now worth $8,890.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Q3 fiscal 2025: $0.72 adjusted EPS vs. ~$0.68 estimate; GAAP $0.55; sales $19.1B (+1.9%).
Full-year fiscal 2024 (ended Feb 22, 2025) filed at ~$78.4B net sales and $1.64 GAAP diluted EPS—do not confuse that with a single quarter’s adjusted print.
$19.1B
revenue
$0.72
eps
27.2%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The adjusted Q3 beat is a headline; the structural story is still thin GAAP margins on a ~$78B+ annual sales base plus pharmacy/digital mix effects.
-
profits remain under pressure at albertsons.
-
august-quarter earnings of $0.44 a share were $0.02 better than our estimate, but still declined 14% vs. prior year, the tenth consecutive negative comparison.
-
identical sales have been advancing at a moderate clip (2.1% in the august period), thanks to strong gains in pharmacy and e-commerce.
-
operating margins, though, continue to be squeezed, as unfavorable mix (toward lower-margin pharmacy and e-commerce) and investments in lower prices are more than offsetting productivity improvements.november-quarter results were set to be released on january 7th and were likely to show a similar pattern. comparisons should look a little stronger to close out fiscal 2025, though this partly reflects the inclusion of an extra week in the fourth period, which ends february 28th.
-
the company is looking to turn the corner in fiscal 2026.
source: Albertsons FY2024 materials + Q3 fiscal 2025 release (e.g. Nasdaq summary Jan 7, 2026; verify totals in SEC 10-K)
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the stand-alone story has two pressure points you cannot ignore: a $24.6B broken-deal overhang and a grocery margin that already sits at 1.2%–1.4%.
med
the Kroger breakup still owns part of the narrative
Albertsons is dealing with the aftermath of Kroger's $24.6B attempted takeover while also suing Kroger. Court time is not operating time, and the market still has not fully switched to valuing this as a plain stand-alone grocer.
If you own the stock for a reset to normal grocery math, this matters. A long legal process can keep the shares trapped in event mode even if day-to-day operations hold up.
med
1.2%–1.4% margin leaves almost no buffer
Quarterly margin was 1.2% and full-year net margin was 1.4%. Pharmacy and e-commerce helped sales, but they also pushed the mix toward lower-margin business.
On ~$78B+ of annual sales, small changes hit hard. This is the kind of model where a modest pricing move, labor cost, or bad mix shift shows up in earnings fast.
med
debt is manageable until earnings stop being boring
Long-term debt stands at $6.9B, or 42% of capital. That's workable with stable cash generation, less comfortable if EPS keeps slipping after full-year 2025's drop to $2.15.
The dividend yield helps support the story, but debt narrows your margin for error. If profit keeps drifting lower, the low multiple starts to look deserved rather than cheap.
Albertsons printed ~$78.4B in fiscal 2024 net sales and kept a low‑single‑digit GAAP slice of it. Litigation, mix shifts, or price investment do not have to be dramatic to show up in earnings.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
Kroger lawsuit milestones
the legal overhang is still part of the valuation story. any update that clarifies damages, timing, or resolution matters.
metric
full-year EPS versus the $2.30 expectation
after $2.15 in full-year 2025, the stand-alone case needs a clean move back toward $2.30. that's the number that tells you whether stabilization is real.
trend
identical sales versus margin
2.1% identical sales growth is fine. the real question is whether Albertsons can hold margin while pharmacy and digital keep growing.
calendar
the first quarter after the extra-week boost
if reported strength came mostly from calendar help, the following quarter usually tells the truth.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — analysts expect above-average price performance in the year ahead. in human-speak, they think a messy stock can still bounce if the operating story stops getting worse.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this is not a bunker stock, but it is not a chaos stock either. you are buying a staple business with event risk attached.
chart momentum
average
technical score 3 — the chart is not sending a dramatic message. the stock still trades more on earnings and litigation than on chart patterns.
earnings predictability
50 / 100
earnings predictability is middling. translation: you should expect a few surprises in a business most people assume is steady.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
218 buyers vs. 270 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.5B shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$14
$28
$17
current price
$21
target midpoint · +21% from current · 3-5yr high: $35 (+100% · 22% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive