Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR), a leading grocery retailer in the United States, is known for its wide range of products and services. The company operates supermarkets, multi-department stores, and convenience stores, competing with other major retailers like Walmart and Costco. Recently, Greg Badishkanian from Wolfe Research set a price target of $75 for Kroger, suggesting a potential price increase from its current trading price of $71.55.
Kroger's stock saw a notable increase of 4.8% following the release of its fourth-quarter 2025 financial results. The company exceeded earnings expectations with an adjusted profit of $1.28 per share, surpassing the anticipated $1.20 per share. However, sales slightly missed forecasts, coming in at $34.7 billion against the expected $35 billion. Despite this, same-store sales, excluding fuel, grew by 2.4%.
Kroger's operating profit surged by 36.6%, and its GAAP earnings per share rose by 50% to $1.35, exceeding the adjusted earnings figure. For the full year, Kroger achieved total sales of $147.6 billion, marking a slight increase of 0.3% compared to 2024. Excluding fuel, same-store sales for the year increased by 2.9%. However, the full-year profit dropped to $1.54 per share, more than half of the previous year.
Kroger's free cash flow for the year was $3.4 billion, nearly doubling from the previous year's $1.8 billion. The company's stock experienced gains even as the broader market faced a selloff, driven by its ability to earn more profit on each dollar of sales. The free cash flow margin improved significantly to 4.8%, up from 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Currently, Kroger's stock price is $71.49, reflecting an increase of approximately 5.14% or $3.50. The stock has fluctuated between a low of $67.25 and a high of $71.65 today. Over the past year, it reached a high of $74.90 and a low of $58.60. Kroger's market capitalization is approximately $47.37 billion, with a trading volume of 9,150,235 shares.
