Albertsons pulls fiscal 2026 outlook, cites unsustainable cost structure
Second-quarter revenue reached $18.89bn and earnings per share came to $0.36
Published
Albertsons reported second-quarter earnings of $0.36 per share on revenue of $18.89bn. The company is withdrawing its fiscal 2026 outlook and will not issue a new one until a comprehensive business review concludes in the fourth quarter.
Chief Executive Officer Susan Morris said the quarter's results do not reflect the company's potential. She said the review is meant to speed improvements and address what she called an unsustainable cost structure.
Albertsons will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share on November 6, 2026 to shareholders of record as of October 23, 2026. It plans to hold an investor day in Spring 2027. During the first 28 weeks of fiscal 2026 the company repurchased 26.0 million shares for $387.6 million under its existing multi-year buyback authorization, and that spending has continued even as forward guidance is withdrawn.
The move marks a shift from Albertsons' earlier posture, when it was pursuing an $8bn claim against Kroger over their collapsed merger and framing the deal's failure as the result of Kroger's divestiture plan. The admission of an unsustainable cost structure now points to problems inside the company rather than a dispute over the failed merger alone, and it leaves investors without a timeline for when those issues will be addressed beyond the fourth-quarter review and next spring's investor day.