Albertsons suspends its fiscal 2026 forecast and launches a business review as profit falls

Albertsons Companies reported second-quarter results Tuesday showing a steep drop in profit, and said it is suspending its fiscal 2026 financial outlook while it conducts a comprehensive business review.

Net income for the 12 weeks ended September 12, 2026, totaled $51.5 million, or $0.11 per share, a sharp decline from $168.5 million, or $0.30 per share, in the year-ago quarter, the company said. Net sales edged down 0.1% to $18.89 billion. Identical sales, which exclude fuel, declined 0.8%.

Adjusted earnings per share reached $0.36, topping the $0.33 analyst consensus, according to The Wall Street Journal. Revenue also beat analyst expectations of $18.87 billion, according to the Journal.

The company said it will not provide a fiscal 2026 outlook until the business review is completed during its fourth quarter. By the fourth-quarter earnings call, Albertsons expects to unveil an updated financial framework covering both near- and longer-term horizons, paired with a turnaround plan, and the company said it is targeting an investor day in spring 2027.

Chief Executive Officer Susan Morris said in a statement that the review is meant to accelerate the company's recovery and confront what she called a cost structure it "can no longer afford." Among the areas under scrutiny are Albertsons' customer strategy, cost structure, operating model, banner portfolio, individual markets, assets and businesses, and how it allocates capital, the company said.

Albertsons stock fell about 2.7% in premarket trading Tuesday.

The business review builds on a structural reorganization Albertsons announced in July, called ACI Edge, which consolidated the company's 11 divisions into four regions and centralized center-store merchandising under a single enterprise team, the company said.

Albertsons also continued to pay dividends and repurchase stock. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share to be paid November 6, 2026, to stockholders of record as of October 23, 2026. During the first 28 weeks of fiscal 2026, Albertsons repurchased 26 million shares for $387.6 million, the company said.

The results come as Albertsons is navigating life after the collapse of a proposed $24.6 billion merger with Kroger. Albertsons has filed court documents demanding that Kroger pay more than $9.3 billion over the deal's failure, with a trial in Delaware Chancery Court scheduled to begin later this month. The company separately appointed Meg Whitman as executive chair in September to help Morris refine strategy and improve execution as Albertsons works to reverse falling sales.