The Kroger Co.: Kroger's Multiyear Shift Toward Simpler, More Visible Customer Value

The Kroger Co. 2026 Q2: Financial Performance summary

• Adjusted earnings per diluted share was $1.09, up 5% year over year, while adjusted FIFO operating profit was $1.1 billion.
• Adjusted ecommerce sales grew 20%, producing the second consecutive quarter of profitable ecommerce growth.
• FIFO gross margin excluding rent, depreciation and amortization, and fuel increased 13 basis points year over year, supported by ecommerce profitability, retail media, pharmacy mix, tariff refunds, and sourcing savings.
• Fuel gallons increased and outperformed the broader market by approximately 25 basis points, while fuel profitability grew at a low-single-digit rate year over year.
• Identical sales without fuel increased 0.2%, despite a 265-basis-point combined headwind from pharmacy impacts, Cyclospora, and egg deflation.
• Net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 1.91 at quarter-end, below the company target range of 2.3 to 2.5, while approximately $1.2 billion of shares had been repurchased year to date.
• Private Selection sales increased more than 14%, total brand penetration rose approximately 50 basis points, and brand sales grew faster than national brands.
• Retail media grew 24%, with media margin up 88 basis points, its strongest performance since 2021.