Albertsons: Takeaways from Management Meetings in New York

Research evidence excerpt

Albertsons: Takeaways from Management Meetings in New York

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

29 July 2026

Albertsons Overweight

ACI, ACI US

Takeaways from Management Meetings in New York Price (28 Jul 26):$11.58

Food Producers & Retailers

Yesterday, we hosted investor meetings in New York with the Albertsons Thomas Palmer, CFA AC

management team, including CEO Susan Morris (soon to retire), President and (1-212) 622-5582

CFO Sharon McCollam, and Treasury & IR Cody Perdue. This follows last week’s thomas.palmer@jpmorgan.com

fiscal 1Q earnings, in which ID sales ex-fuel and EPS came in below expectations, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

and ACI reduced its annual guidance for both items (earnings recap). The main

topics of discussion were (a) the conditions that caused ACI’s ID sales growth to

be weaker than it previously anticipated and (b) the actions it is taking (price

investments, productivity, centralized procurement) to better position the

company on a more enduring basis. The company stressed that its decision to

reinvest this year (at the expense of near-term profitability) is because it believes

these incremental investments will set it up for an improved sales and earnings

trajectory on a longer-term horizon. It elaborated on why some of these

investments, especially centralized buying (ACI Edge), might have been

implemented sooner if not for its since-abandoned acquisition by Kroger. Overall,

we came away with a better understanding of the opportunities that ACI sees to

drive improved share and profit, though these initiatives could take time to

materially benefit results.

• Management detailed a variety of items that have contributed to weaker

industry sales trends and also share losses for Albertsons. Consumers are