Kroger (KR) is now at the crossroads: while CEO Rodney McMullen has announced its resignation, the growth in the sale of stores of the same floors has lagged behind, and its fusion proposed with Albertsons failed.
On Monday, before the opening of the market, the company announced that McMullen would move immediately “following an investigation by the board of directors on its personal conduct which, although unrelated to the company, was incompatible with Kroger’s policy on business ethics”. The member of the Kroger family and veteran of the industry, Ron Sargent, was appointed President and Managing Director by interim.
Analysts qualified the surprising announcement.
“We thought Kroger would shake leadership, after the failed merger with that of Albertson, but obviously it is not how we planned to play,” AFRA analyst Arun Sunday told Yahoo Finance. “Despite the way things ended for Rodney McMullen, that’s the right time to see a new leadership at Kroger.”
The grocer is expected to report his fourth quarter and whole year financial report on Thursday before the market.
This is one of the many changes in recent history.
Last month, the company announcement The director of the Pepsico (PEP), David Kennerley, would join the company on March 10 and will officially succeed the interim director Todd Foley on April 3. Foley took the temporary position after the departure of Gary Millerchip for Costco last February.
His merchant chief, Stuart Aitken, who was a former internal internal candidate by Joe Feldman of Telsey Advisory Group, resigned At the end of last year to become CEO of Circana.
At the end: March 5 at 4:00 p.m.
Krot Wmt COST
The company’s shares fell by almost 2% on Monday.
Morningstar analyst Noah Rohr told Yahoo Finance by phone that investors were considering how these “new faces” would take place for the company and the advice updated.
Kroger is now expecting sales with comparable stores in the year full of years, without fuel, to be at the upper end of his orientation range. During the previous quarter, the company shared the expected range from 1.2% to 1.5%.
The company also said that adjusted profits would be slightly higher at the upper end of its range of directives. The previously shared range was $ 4.35 to $ 4.45.
Rohr, who said that the actions were “slightly overvalued” with a fair price target of $ 59, noted that the updated directives “have probably appeased certain concerns of investors” around “uncertainty with the C-Suite”.
It expects long -term long -term sales growth advice from 2% to 2.5%.
Sundaram said that 2025 will be a “stronger” year compared to 2024 and estimates the same beach for sales growth.
“Food inflation has acquired a little. It is generally good for sales growth at comparable stores … Too much inflation is bad, but too little inflation is also bad,” he said.
