Albertsons Companies Q1 2026 Earnings Call: Complete Transcript

Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI ) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Thursday.

Read the complete transcript below.

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Access the full call at Summary Albertsons Companies reported a 0.8% decline in identical sales for the quarter, with adjusted EBITDA at $1.013 billion and adjusted EPS at $0.42 per share.

The company is implementing the ACI Edge initiative, restructuring from 11 divisions to four regions and centralizing center store merchandising to enhance operational efficiency and customer value proposition.

Albertsons expects the ACI Edge to generate $200 million in annual run-rate benefits by fiscal 2027, with transition costs of approximately $50 million over fiscal 2026 and 2027.

Digital sales grew by 13%, with e-commerce profitability achieved, and the company aims to leverage AI and technology to improve customer personalization and operational efficiency.

The company announced a cautious fiscal 2026 outlook due to ongoing pressures on lower-income consumers and industry unit softness, with identical sales expected between -0.5% to -1.5% for the year.

Management emphasized the importance of personalized customer experiences, digital convenience, and fresh product offerings as key areas for strategic investment.

Sharon McCollum, President and CFO, announced her retirement, and the company is conducting a search for a successor with strong financial and strategic leadership capabilities.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Welcome to Albertsons Companies' first quarter fiscal 2026 earnings conference call.

All participants will be in listen-only mode until the Q&A session.

This call is being recorded.

I would like to hand the call over to Cody Perdue, Senior Vice President, Treasury, Investor Relations, and Risk Management.

Please go ahead.

Cody Perdue, Senior Vice President, Treasury, Investor Relations, and Risk Management Good morning and thank you for joining us.

With me today are Susan Morris, our CEO, and Sharon McCollum, our President and CFO.

Today, Susan will provide an overview of our first quarter results and perspective on the current operating environment, including the actions we are taking to improve execution, strengthen our customer value proposition, and position the business for stronger long-term performance.

Sharon will then cover our financial results and updated outlook.

Before we open the call for Q&A, I would like to remind you that management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.

These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections.

These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors identified in our filings with the SEC.

Any forward-looking statements we make today are only as of today's date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any such statements.

Additionally, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures.

A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in this morning's earnings release and with that I will turn the call over to Susan.

Susan Morris, Chief Executive Officer Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us.

Let me begin by discussing this morning's announcement on Sharon's retirement.

Of course, I first want to thank Sharon for the lasting impact she's had on Albertsons Companies and her exceptional partnership.

Since joining the company in 2021, she's played a critical role in shaping our financial, operational and strategic priorities, bringing a unique combination of financial discipline, operational expertise and transformation leadership.

Most importantly, Sharon has helped position Albertsons Companies for its next chapter of growth, leaving the company with a strong foundation, a clear strategic direction and the capabilities needed to drive long term value creation.

We are conducting a comprehensive search process evaluating both internal and external candidates to identify a transformational leader who combines exceptional financial acumen with a strategic vision to drive sustainable growth and long term value.

I'll turn now to our results for the quarter.

Identical sales declined 0.8%, adjusted EBITDA was 1.013 billion and adjusted earnings per share was 42 cents per share.

While pharmacy and digital delivered strong growth, their performance was not enough to offset broader pressures in our core business.

These results were below our expectations and we're taking decisive action to improve future performance.