Whole Foods Market Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Whole Foods Market (NAS: WFM) reported earnings on July 25. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended July 1 (Q3), Whole Foods Market met expectations on revenue and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.


Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
Whole Foods Market tallied revenue of $2.73 billion. The 22 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for a top line of $2.73 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 14% higher than the prior-year quarter's $2.40 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.63. The 24 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.61 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.63 for Q3 were 26% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.50 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 36.0%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.0%, 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 4.3%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.90 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.57.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $11.68 billion.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 4,258 members out of 4,826 rating the stock outperform, and 568 members rating it underperform. Among 1,420 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,318 give Whole Foods Market a green thumbs-up, and 102 give it a red thumbs-down.

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The article Whole Foods Market Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. 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 Whole Foods Market. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Whole Foods Market. 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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