Analyst Consensus ?
ConsensusHold43 ratings
Bullish2046.5%
Neutral1739.5%
Bearish614.0%
The Kroger Co. · KR · FY2026 Q1 · Calendar Q2 2026
Kroger Q1 FY2026: eCommerce Turns Profitable, Revenue Beats, EPS Slight Miss
Kroger reached a profitability inflection in eCommerce and retail media during Q1 FY2026, with cost savings running roughly 30 percent ahead of plan. A 1 percent identical sales increase excluding fuel was led by fresh, eCommerce growth of 19 percent, and private label, which gained 175 basis points of share versus national brands. Despite the operational progress, a slight EPS miss and an unexpected 15 basis-point transportation cost headwind contributed to a sharply negative market reaction of minus 8.4 percent on the session. Management reaffirmed full-year guidance and signaled better H2 margins ahead, backed by the now-profitable eCommerce and media businesses.
Reported Before market openNYSEConsumer Defensive
$36.68B market cap
100quality score
Company context
Snapshot as of publicationThe Kroger Co. functions as a significant retail entity throughout the United States, encompassing a varied collection of store formats. Its operations include integrated food and drug stores, which stock a broad range of products from natural and organic sections to pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce. The company also runs multi-department stores that broaden their offerings to include apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living goods, electronics, automotive products, and toys.…
Earnings scorecard
Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS
$1.58
Consensus $2
EPS surprise
-0.6%
Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue
$46.12B
Consensus $45.59B
Revenue surprise
+1.2%
Reported versus consensus
Earnings History
Estimate
Beat
Miss
Match
Analyst 52W Price Targets
$59.87Previous close
$42Low
$67.89Average
$92High
Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted previous close from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 30, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.
Firm-level rating actions
FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.
| Firm | Rating | Prior rating | Action | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evercore ISI Group | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jul 7, 2026 |
| Guggenheim | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 2, 2026 |
| Citigroup | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jun 23, 2026 |
| UBS | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Telsey Advisory Group | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Barclays | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Jun 22, 2026 |
| JP Morgan | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jun 11, 2026 |
| Roth Capital | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Mar 6, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Equal Weight | Overweight | Downgrade | Feb 25, 2026 |
| Roth MKM | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Sep 17, 2025 |
| Deutsche Bank | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Jun 23, 2025 |
| B of A Securities | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Dec 20, 2024 |
| BMO Capital | Market Perform | Market Perform | Maintain | Dec 12, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Argus Research | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Jul 22, 2024 |
| Exane BNP Paribas | Underperform | Neutral | Downgrade | Apr 8, 2024 |
| Stephens & Co. | Equal Weight | Equal Weight | Maintain | Dec 1, 2023 |
| Northcoast Research | Buy | Neutral | Upgrade | Mar 20, 2023 |
| Bernstein | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Dec 6, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 8, 2022 |
| Goldman Sachs | Sell | Sell | Maintain | Dec 6, 2021 |
| Scotiabank | Sector Outperform | Sector Outperform | Maintain | Sep 14, 2020 |
| MKM Partners | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Jul 30, 2020 |
| CFRA | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Mar 5, 2020 |
| Pivotal Research | Buy | Hold | Upgrade | Aug 2, 2019 |
| Bank of America | Buy | Buy | Maintain | May 29, 2019 |
| Buckingham Research | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | Mar 8, 2019 |
| Buckingham | Underperform | Underperform | Maintain | Mar 8, 2019 |
| Argus | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Aug 20, 2018 |
| Moffett Nathanson | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Dec 4, 2017 |
| Loop Capital | Hold | Hold | Maintain | May 16, 2017 |
| RBC Capital | Outperform | Sector Perform | Upgrade | Mar 23, 2017 |
| PiperJaffray | Neutral | Underweight | Upgrade | Dec 14, 2016 |
| Piper Sandler | Neutral | Underweight | Upgrade | Dec 14, 2016 |
| SunTrust Robinson Humphrey | Neutral | Neutral | Maintain | Sep 12, 2016 |
| Oppenheimer | Outperform | Outperform | Maintain | Aug 24, 2016 |
| Cleveland Research | Hold | Buy | Downgrade | Aug 23, 2016 |
| Wolfe Research | Underperform | Peer Perform | Downgrade | Jul 28, 2016 |
| Hilliard Lyons | Buy | Long Term Buy | Maintain | Jun 23, 2016 |
| Macquarie | Underperform | Neutral | Downgrade | Mar 4, 2016 |
| Stifel Nicolaus | Buy | Buy | Maintain | Feb 12, 2016 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | Hold | Hold | Maintain | Mar 5, 2015 |
Named analyst price targets
Upside is calculated against the persisted previous close $59.87. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.
| Firm | Analyst | 52W target | Price when posted | Upside | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evercore ISI | Michael Montani | $78 | $59.56 | +30.3% | Jul 7, 2026 |
| Telsey Advisory | Analyst unavailable | $78 | $56.54 | +30.3% | Jun 22, 2026 |
| UBS | Michael Lasser | $63 | $56.59 | +5.2% | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Guggenheim | Analyst unavailable | $71 | $56.61 | +18.6% | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Wells Fargo | Analyst unavailable | $58 | $56.61 | -3.1% | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $61 | $56.61 | +1.9% | Jun 22, 2026 |
| Goldman Sachs | Leah Jordan | $82 | $56.61 | +37.0% | Jun 19, 2026 |
| Coker Palmer | Thomas Palmer | $70 | $64.46 | +16.9% | Jun 11, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Scott Marks | $80 | $61.56 | +33.6% | Jun 3, 2026 |
| Evercore ISI | Michael Montani | $83 | $73.37 | +38.6% | Mar 9, 2026 |
| Jefferies | Scott Marks | $82 | $71.57 | +37.0% | Mar 5, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Simeon Gutman | $73 | $71.57 | +21.9% | Mar 5, 2026 |
| Wolfe Research | Greg Badishkanian | $75 | $71.55 | +25.3% | Mar 5, 2026 |
| BMO Capital | Kelly Bania | $70 | $70.09 | +16.9% | Mar 5, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $67 | $62.46 | +11.9% | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $75 | $59.92 | +25.3% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Barclays | Analyst unavailable | $68 | $59.28 | +13.6% | Jan 8, 2026 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $72 | $62.83 | +20.3% | Dec 8, 2025 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $80 | $63.4 | +33.6% | Dec 5, 2025 |
| Evercore ISI | Analyst unavailable | $77 | $63.35 | +28.6% | Dec 5, 2025 |
| UBS | Michael Lasser | $70 | $63.36 | +16.9% | Dec 5, 2025 |
| Wells Fargo | Edward Kelly | $70 | $63.14 | +16.9% | Dec 4, 2025 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $82 | $67.28 | +37.0% | Dec 1, 2025 |
| Coker Palmer | Thomas Palmer | $73 | $66.81 | +21.9% | Nov 26, 2025 |
| Guggenheim | John Heinbockel | $78 | $67.38 | +30.3% | Nov 19, 2025 |
| Argus Research | Analyst unavailable | $85 | $66.32 | +42.0% | Sep 18, 2025 |
| Jefferies | Analyst unavailable | $83 | $74 | +38.6% | Jun 23, 2025 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $76 | $74 | +26.9% | Jun 23, 2025 |
| Guggenheim | John Heinbockel | $73 | $70.74 | +21.9% | Apr 3, 2025 |
| Roth Capital | Analyst unavailable | $58 | $63.78 | -3.1% | Mar 6, 2025 |
| Jefferies | Rob Dickerson | $73 | $60.15 | +21.9% | Dec 3, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Rob Dickerson | $54 | $55.2 | -9.8% | Sep 12, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Michael Montani | $62 | $54.2 | +3.6% | Sep 12, 2024 |
| Argus Research | Chris Graja | $72 | $54.86 | +20.3% | Jul 22, 2024 |
| Evercore ISI | Vijay Jayant | $92 | $50.27 | +53.7% | Jun 24, 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley | Simeon Gutman | $57 | $50.21 | -4.8% | Jun 24, 2024 |
| BMO Capital | Kelly Bania | $60 | $51.98 | +0.2% | Jun 18, 2024 |
| Jefferies | Rob Dickerson | $53 | $51.28 | -11.5% | Jun 11, 2024 |
| Wells Fargo | Edward Kelly | $65 | $55.36 | +8.6% | Apr 16, 2024 |
| Northcoast Research | Chuck Cerankosky | $60 | $47.28 | +0.2% | Jun 14, 2023 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $55 | $46.17 | -8.1% | Jun 9, 2023 |
| Bernstein | Analyst unavailable | $58 | $46.07 | -3.1% | Dec 6, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $55 | $46.14 | -8.1% | Dec 5, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $44 | $47.57 | -26.5% | Dec 5, 2022 |
| UBS | Analyst unavailable | $54 | $48 | -9.8% | Dec 2, 2022 |
| Deutsche Bank | Analyst unavailable | $56 | $49.05 | -6.5% | Nov 29, 2022 |
| Evercore ISI | Michael Montani | $56 | $47.12 | -6.5% | Nov 9, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $43 | $50.5 | -28.2% | Sep 12, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Analyst unavailable | $41 | $49.82 | -31.5% | Jun 17, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Robert Ohmes | $75 | $50.39 | +25.3% | Jun 14, 2022 |
| Oppenheimer | Rupesh Parikh | $54 | $50.43 | -9.8% | Jun 9, 2022 |
| Guggenheim | Analyst unavailable | $57 | $52.54 | -4.8% | Jun 6, 2022 |
| Bank of America Securities | Buy | $75 | $58.32 | +25.3% | Apr 14, 2022 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $62 | $55.71 | +3.6% | Mar 8, 2022 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $60 | $58.94 | +0.2% | Mar 5, 2022 |
| Credit Suisse | Robert Moskow | $57 | $58.94 | -4.8% | Mar 4, 2022 |
| Stephens | Ben Bienvenu | $57 | $58.94 | -4.8% | Mar 4, 2022 |
| Jefferies | Matthew Fishbein | $43 | $55.1 | -28.2% | Mar 3, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Edward Kelly | $47 | $55.1 | -21.5% | Mar 3, 2022 |
| Wolfe Research | Spencer Hanus | $52 | $44.9 | -13.1% | Feb 3, 2022 |
| Citigroup | Paul Lejuez | $42 | $43.27 | -29.8% | Jan 28, 2022 |
| Wells Fargo | Edward Kelly | $42 | $45.08 | -29.8% | Jan 25, 2022 |
| Morgan Stanley | Simeon Gutman | $38 | $45.37 | -36.5% | Dec 14, 2021 |
| Telsey Advisory | Joseph Feldman | $47 | $45.11 | -21.5% | Dec 6, 2021 |
| Guggenheim | John Heinbockel | $49 | $43.23 | -18.2% | Dec 3, 2021 |
| MKM Partners | William Kirk | $48 | $43.23 | -19.8% | Dec 3, 2021 |
| Northcoast Research | Chuck Cerankosky | $46 | $39.26 | -23.2% | Jun 22, 2021 |
| Oppenheimer | Rupesh Parikh | $40 | $38.62 | -33.2% | Jun 17, 2021 |
Track every rating change on KR the moment it posts. Free to start.
Start freeMarket reaction
prior-close to event-session close
Stock move
-8.4%
Event window
SPY move
+0.8%
Same window
Abnormal move
-9.2%
Stock minus SPY
Volume
3.4×
Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift
+3.1%
Up to 20 sessions
KRSPY benchmark
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Try FN2 freeTranscript intelligence
What changed
eCommerce and Kroger Precision Marketing both turned profitable in the quarter, establishing a new earnings engine. Identical sales grew 1 percent excluding fuel, driven by fresh, eCommerce growth of 19 percent, and private label strength. Private label Our Brands gained 175 basis points of share versus national brands. Cost-saving initiatives are approximately 30 percent ahead of plan, delivering early COGS reductions. An unexpected transportation and diesel cost headwind of 15 basis points pressured gross margin. Revenue of 46.1 billion dollars beat estimates by 1.2 percent while EPS of 1.58 dollars narrowly missed the 1.59 dollar estimate. Full-year guidance was reaffirmed with expectations of stronger H2 margins and continued volume growth.
Guidance delta
Full-year guidance was maintained. In the prior quarter Q3 FY2025, management had raised adjusted EPS guidance to 4.75 to 4.80 dollars and narrowed identical sales guidance to 2.8 to 3 percent. This quarter reaffirmed stance signals confidence that cost savings and pricing investments will drive stronger H2 margins despite Q1 transportation headwind.
Key takeaways
- eCommerce profitability achieved this quarter, shifting from investment to returns
- Cost savings running approximately 30 percent ahead of plan
- Private label Our Brands gained 175 basis points of share versus national brands
- Transportation and diesel cost spike added 15 basis points of gross margin pressure
- Full-year guidance reaffirmed with H2 margin improvement expected
Management priorities
- Accelerate store pipeline targeting high-return formats and markets
- Deploy AI capabilities for real-time media optimization and audience creation
- Expand third-party delivery partnerships with DoorDash and Uber Eats
- Deepen media partnerships with Google and launch self-service advertising on TikTok
- Provide detailed cost-saving and pricing update at the October 20 investor meeting
Sources
- Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-06-18T19:19:34.423054+00:00
- FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-26T00:37:12.209961+00:00
- Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-30T08:09:59.308755+00:00
- Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-30T08:09:59.306106+00:00
Methodology
Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.
Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.
Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.
By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.