Kroger reported Q2 2024 earnings on September 12th, with total company sales flat vs. last year but identical store sales accelerating to +1.2% and profitability improving vs. last quarter. Despite the unit trend improvement, units were still negative and market share gains were minimal. We took particular note of the strength in Our Brands and the company’s ability to lean on vendors to fund promotional price points.
The company faces easier comparisons in 2H24 cycling negative ID sales last year and raised the low end of their full year guidance (minimally). This quarter’s performance largely met our expectations, and we are waiting on the results of the injunction hearings set to end this week before assuming the same level of optimism that Kroger management has in the Albertsons merger moving forward.
Download Harvest Group’s full earnings recap with unique takeaways for suppliers here:
