Kroger Co. shares jumped nearly 6% in Thursday premarket trading after the grocer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat the Street and gave guidance ahead of expectations. Net income totaled $566 million, or 75 cents per share, after a loss of $77 million, or 10 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of 91 cents beat the FactSet consensus for 74 cents. Sales of $33.05 billion were up from $30.74 billion last year and ahead of the FactSet consensus for $32.68 billion. Identical sales excluding fuel grew 4% ahead of the FactSet consensus for 2.1% growth. Kroger’s outlook for fiscal 2022 is for identical sales growth of 2% to 3% without fuel, and adjusted EPS between $3.75 to $3.85. The FactSet consensus is for identical sales growth of 1.4% and EPS of $3.43. Kroger stock has run up 48.5% over the past year while the S&P 500 index is up nearly 15%.
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