Earnings Preview: Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market (WFMI) is expected to report Q4 earnings after market close Wednesday Nov. 5, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for a profit of 13c on revenue of $1.81B. The consensus range is 9c to 15c for EPS, and revenue of $1.61B to $1.93B, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

When Whole Foods reported its last quarter, it gave Q4 EPS guidance of 13c to 15c vs. a consensus at the time of 27c. The company also gave FY09 EPS guidance of $1.08 to $1.14 vs. a consensus at that time of $1.52. The guidance included 7c to 9c per share in dilution from Wild Oats and 6c per share in dilution from the company's U.K. operations. Finally, Whole Foods gave FY09 sales growth guidance, saying it sees sales growth of 6% to 10% and comparable sales growth of 1% to 5%. Whole Foods, despite cutting down on new stores and suspending its quarterly dividend, will still have to pull back on its earnings forecast due to the troubling economy, according to the Wall Street Journal.