By Connor Hart
United Natural Foods narrowed its loss in its fiscal first quarter, as the company said efforts to optimize its network are bearing fruit and proceeding faster than expected.
The company, a major food distributor for Whole Foods, posted a loss of $4 million, or 6 cents a share, for its quarter ended Nov. 1. That is compared with a loss of $21 million, or 35 cents a share, in last year's comparable quarter.
Stripping out one-time items, earnings were 56 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected adjusted earnings of 40 cents a share.
Net sales ebbed 0.4% to $7.84 billion, compared with Wall Street models for $7.91 billion.
United Natural attributed the slight decline in sales to the transition out of its Allentown, Pa., distribution center and store closures in retail. The decline was partially offset by continued growth across the company's natural segment, it added.
Chief Executive Sandy Douglas said the company is benefiting from recent supply chain investments and process improvements, which have strengthened service levels and increased throughput.
Looking ahead, the company will continue working to improve service levels, build tailored solutions for customers and enhance its capabilities, he added.
For the year, United Natural backed its outlook for earnings of 0 to 80 cents a share, or $1.50 to $2.30 a share on an adjusted basis. Net sales are expected to come in between $31.6 billion and $32 billion.
Analysts are looking for adjusted earnings of $2 a share on sales of $32.02 billion.
Shares rose 2.7%, to $35.30, in premarket trading.
Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 02, 2025 07:27 ET (12:27 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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