SUPERVALU Meets on the Top Line, Misses Where it Counts

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

SUPERVALU (NYS: SVU) reported earnings on Jan. 10. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 1 (Q3), SUPERVALU met expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

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


Gross margins contracted, operating margins dropped, net margins increased.

Revenue details
 SUPERVALU reported revenue of $7.91 billion. The 14 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted sales of $7.92 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 5.0% lower than the prior-year quarter's $8.33 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 $0.03. The 16 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.07 per share. GAAP EPS were $0.08 for Q3 against -$3.54 per share for the prior-year quarter.

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 21.2%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 2.0%, 50 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.2%, 920 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $7.86 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.20.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $34.49 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.49.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 793 members out of 879 rating the stock outperform, and 86 members rating it underperform. Among 233 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 206 give SUPERVALU a green thumbs-up, and 27 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 $2.71.

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The article SUPERVALU Meets on the Top Line, Misses Where it Counts originally appeared on Fool.com.

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. 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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