SUPERVALU Misses on Both Revenue and Earnings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

SUPERVALU (NYS: SVU) reported earnings on Jan. 11. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 3 (Q3), SUPERVALU missed slightly on revenues and missed on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped, and earnings per share contracted.

Gross margins expanded, operating margins expanded, net margins shrank.

Revenue details
SUPERVALU logged revenue of $8.3 billion. The 11 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected sales of $8.4 billion. Sales were 4.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $8.7 billion.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.24. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.25 per share on the same basis. GAAP EPS were -$3.54 for Q3 versus -$0.95 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 21.7%, 20 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.4%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -9.0%, 670 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods.

Looking ahead
What does the future hold?

Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $8.3 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.37.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $36.0 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.25.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 824 members out of 871 rating the stock outperform, and 47 members rating it underperform. Among 237 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 225 give SUPERVALU a green thumbs-up, and 12 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on SUPERVALU is hold, with an average price target of $9.11.

At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson owned shares of the following at the time of publication: SUPERVALU. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool owns shares of SUPERVALU. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying calls in SUPERVALU. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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