Albertsons Companies, Inc. reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $480.8 million, primarily driven by a $600 million charge related to an opioid litigation settlement framework.
The company swung to a loss from a profit in the fourth quarter, mainly due to a new expense tied to an opioid settlement agreement designed to resolve nearly all opioid-related claims against the company. For the quarter, Albertsons posted a net loss of $480.8 million, or 94 cents per share. This compares to a net income of $171.8 million, or 29 cents per share, reported for the same period last year. The reported loss included a $600 million charge associated with the opioid settlement framework. On Tuesday, the company announced it had reached a $774 million settlement to resolve nationwide opioid-related claims filed against it. The company had previously faced lawsuits alleging its pharmacies failed to properly prevent the misuse of opioid medications. The settlement payments are scheduled to be made in installments over a period of nine years. Adjusted earnings per share for the fourth quarter were 48 cents, surpassing the analyst expectation of 44 cents per share, based on a FactSet survey. Net sales and other revenue increased to $20.25 billion, up from $18.8 billion in the prior-year quarter, but fell slightly short of the Wall Street consensus estimate of $20.47 billion. Same-store sales grew by 0.7%, which was below the 1.7% growth anticipated by analysts. For the 2026 fiscal year, Albertsons provided guidance projecting same-store sales to be flat to up 1%. The company expects adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.22 to $2.32. Analysts, on average, had forecast full-year same-store sales growth of 1.2% and adjusted earnings per share of $2.27.
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