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Here's What to Expect from Kroger's (KR) Q3 Earnings

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Shares of Kroger (KR - Free Report) closed trading down 3.76% in their last trading day prior to the release of the grocery firm’s third quarter financial results. The dip is part of a larger decline over the last three months. But the company has fought to adapt to the modern retail age through new partnerships and offerings. So, let’s see what to expect from Kroger Thursday morning.

Overview

Kroger now offers grocery delivery through its Instacart partnership, along with online ordering and curbside pickup via its ClickList service. The firm also recently partnered with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) to sell some of its goods—which include its Home Chef meal kits that compete against the likes of Blue Apron —at select Walgreens locations.

The Cincinnati-based company has also partnered with Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba (BABA - Free Report) to sell some of its brands in China. All of Kroger’s efforts are aimed to help the company take on Target (TGT - Free Report) , Walmart (WMT - Free Report) , Costco (COST - Free Report) , and others in the age of Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) .

 

 

Outlook

Kroger, which currently boasts 2,800 stores, is projected to see its third-quarter revenues slip 0.69% to reach $27.56 billion, based on our current Zacks Consensus Estimate. Meanwhile, KR is expected to see its adjusted quarterly earnings slip by 2.3% to hit $0.43 per share.

Despite Kroger’s negative Q3 outlook, KR stock could get a boost if the company is able to top our quarterly earnings estimates. Luckily, we can turn to our exclusive Earnings ESP figure to help us find out how likely a Kroger earnings beat might be.

The Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter. The Most Accurate Estimate is a version of the Zacks Consensus whose definition is related to change.

This is done because, generally speaking, when an analyst posts an estimate right before an earnings release, it means that they have fresh information which could potentially be more accurate than what analysts thought about a company two or three months ago.

A positive Earnings ESP paired with a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better ranking helps us feel confident about the potential for an earnings beat. In fact, our 10-year backtest has revealed that this methodology has accurately produced a positive surprise 70% of the time.

Kroger is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and sports an Earnings ESP of -6.71%. Unfortunately, this means that our model is inconclusive. But investors should note that Kroger’s earnings estimate revision activity has trended more heavily in the wrong direction for its current full-year as well.  

Kroger is scheduled to release its Q3 financial results before the opening bell Thursday.

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