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Bear of the Day: Kroger (KR)

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The big story dominating the headlines last week was tech. The “tech wreck” on June 9th set the stage for a rough week for FANG stocks. Hidden among those headlines was a terrible week for today’s Bear of the Day, Kroger (KR - Free Report) . The stock didn’t just have disappointing earnings report, which sunk the stock dramatically, but it also found out it’s now in a fight with one of the fiercest competitors on Earth in Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) .

In case you’re not familiar with Kroger, the Kroger Co., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer in the United States. It also manufactures and processes food for sale in its supermarkets. The company operates retail food and drug stores, multi-department stores, jewelry stores, and convenience stores. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; multi-department stores provide general merchandise items, such as apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, toys, and fine jewelry; and price impact warehouse stores offer grocery, and health and beauty care items, as well as meat, dairy, baked goods, and fresh produce items. 

Kroger is the number one supermarket chain int eh world by revenue. Thursday morning, Kroger’s earnings report revealed $36.3 billion in Q1 revenues, up 4.9% year-over-year. The figure actually beat consensus estimates calling for $35.5 billion. However, same-store sales dropped 0.2%, prompting CFO Michael Schlotman to blame deflation and a heightened competitive landscape. They slashed forward guidance from a range of $2.21 to $2.25 down to a range of $2.00 to $2.05 per share. That drop in guidance was enough to take shares down 17%.

Making things worse was Amazon’s announcement of its Whole Foods acquisition. Kroger was already reeling from price-slashing competition. With Amazon now a big part of the competition, Kroger is really in some trouble over the intermediate-term. Shares dropped another 9% as a result of the announcement.

Investors looking for other stocks within the same industry should check out a couple of Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) options. Those two include J Sainsbury (JSAIY - Free Report) and Marks and Spencer Group (MAKSY - Free Report) .

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