Safeway Beats on EPS But GAAP Results Lag

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Safeway (NYS: SWY) reported earnings on July 18. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 15 (Q2), Safeway missed estimates on revenues and beat slightly on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly. Non-GAAP earnings per share was unchanged. GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.


Margins contracted across the board.

Revenue details
 Safeway booked revenue of $10.22 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted revenue of $10.44 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 16% lower than the prior-year quarter's $10.39 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 $0.51. The 15 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.50 per share. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.51 were the same as the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS of $0.04 for Q2 were 92% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.51 per share. (The prior-year quarter included $0.01 per share in earnings from discontinued operations.)

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 26.2%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 1.6%, 80 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.1%, 110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $10.25 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.45.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $44.71 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.28.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 376 members out of 458 rating the stock outperform, and 82 members rating it underperform. Among 141 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 122 give Safeway a green thumbs-up, and 19 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Safeway is hold, with an average price target of $25.40.

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The article Safeway Beats on EPS But GAAP Results Lag 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 has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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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