US Foods Holding Corp. shares slid 2.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the food service company posted a loss for the first quarter and offered guidance that lagged estimates. The company posted a net loss of $16 million, or 7 cents a share, for the quarter, after a loss of $39 million, or 18 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Adjusted per-share earnings came to 36 cents, ahead of the 22 cent FactSet consensus. Sales rose to $7.798 billion from $6.295 billion a year ago, also ahead of the $7.479 billion FactSet consensus. Sales were driven by higher total case volume and food cost inflation of 17.3% compared to the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement. Operating costs rose 19.1% to $1.2 billion, due to greater volume and higher distribution costs, in part due to higher temporary labor costs and higher than normal wage inflation. Those were partially offset by cost savings elsewhere. The company said it is backing guidance offered in February for full-year adjusted EPS of $1.80-$2.10, compared with a FactSet consensus of $2.26. Shares have fallen 2.5% in the year to date, while the S&P 500 has fallen 17%.
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