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United Natural Foods Beats Fourth-Quarter Earnings Views, Discloses New Buyback Plan

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United Natural Foods Beats Fourth-Quarter Earnings Views, Discloses New Buyback Plan

United Natural Foods (UNFI) swung to stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and announced a share buyback program on Tuesday, while its full-year outlook fell short of Wall Street's expectations.

The grocery wholesaler reported adjusted per-share earnings of $0.69 for the quarter ended Aug. 1, compared with a loss of $0.11 a year earlier. The FactSet-polled consensus indicated EPS of $0.62. Revenue fell 0.7% to $7.64 billion, while analysts projected $7.69 billion.

The company said its board authorized the repurchase of up to $200 million of shares, replacing the previous program announced four years ago. The stock was up 2.6% intraday, and has advanced about 34% this year.

"Excluding our planned optimization actions, short-term project work, and the impact of cycling last year's cyber event, our underlying wholesale sales grew in line with our $90 billion target addressable market," Chief Operating Officer Giorgio Matteo Tarditi said during an earnings conference call, according to a FactSet transcript.

United Natural Foods' adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 48% to $172 million amid "disciplined execution and solid expense management," Tarditi said on the call. That pushed full-year adjusted EBITDA to $701 million, near the top end of the company's guidance, he said.

Last month, foodservice distributor US Foods (USFD) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results and affirmed its fiscal 2026 outlook. Performance Food Group's (PFGC) fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and sales rose year over year, though the results missed the Street's estimates.

For fiscal 2027, United Natural Foods is projecting adjusted EPS of $3 to $3.50, the midpoint of which is below the consensus of $3.31. Full-year revenue is expected between $31.2 billion and $31.8 billion, while analysts are looking for $31.95 billion.

The company reported fiscal 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.65 and net sales of $31.15 billion, compared with $0.71 and $31.78 billion for the prior year.

The company is guiding for full-year adjusted EBITDA of $730 million to $780 million.

"We've achieved significant improvement as we capped the second year of our value creation strategy, with momentum continuing into fiscal 2027," Chief Executive Sandy Douglas told analysts. "In fiscal 2027, we're positioned for another year of continued progress with adjusted EBITDA up high-single digits, sustained free cash flow generation, and lower net leverage while returning to profitable growth."

Price: $45.87, Change: $+1.94, Percent Change: +4.42%

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