Fundamentals snapshot
ACI · NYQ · Consumer Defensive · Grocery Stores
Current price
$16.14
52-week range
$15.36 - $22.78
Market cap
$7.98B
One-glance verdict
Fair-value range $0.55 – $2.45 (cautious → optimistic — tap the ? for the math)
Wall Street consensus: $20.94 (3,698.4% higher than our fair-value estimate)
Buy below $0.44 for a 20% safety cushion
Balance sheet
Net debt $15.06B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
Quick scan of the biggest positives and negatives from the detailed checklist below.
What this company does
Albertsons is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, operating well-known grocery store chains you might recognize like Safeway, Vons, and Jewel-Osco. The company makes its money by selling everyday necessities like groceries, pharmacy items, and fuel, which can create steady sales because people always need to buy them. However, intense competition in the grocery business often leads to very thin profit margins (the small amount of profit made on each dollar of sales), making it crucial for the company to manage costs carefully.
Albertsons was founded in 1939 by Joe Albertson in Boise, Idaho, with a focus on providing a wide variety of products and excellent service. The company grew by expanding across the western United States and went public in 1959 to fund further growth. A major turning point was the 2015 merger with Safeway, which significantly increased its size and brought well-known store banners like Vons, Jewel-Osco, and Shaw's under its ownership. This and other acquisitions transformed Albertsons into one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America.
Albertsons is a grocery store company that operates thousands of stores across the United States under many different names, including Safeway, Vons, and Jewel-Osco. In these stores, you can buy everyday items like fresh produce, meat, dairy, baked goods, and packaged foods. Many locations also have in-store pharmacies for prescriptions and health products, and some have fuel centers where you can buy gasoline. The company also sells its own line of products, often at a lower price than national brands.
The main way Albertsons makes money is by selling groceries and other products in its physical stores. This single business line accounts for the vast majority of its revenue (the total money it brings in). Customers pay for items like fresh and packaged foods, health and beauty products, and general merchandise. The company operates a large network of stores under more than 20 different brand names, which allows them to tailor their offerings to local communities. This segment also includes other in-store services like pharmacies, which provide prescription medications and vaccines, and fuel stations at some locations.
Management is heavily focused on improving the digital shopping experience and growing its 'Albertsons for U' loyalty program. The goal is to use data from its millions of loyalty members to offer more personalized deals and simplify meal planning, which encourages customers to shop more often. Another key priority is expanding their own private label brands, like O Organics and Signature Select, which are generally more profitable than selling national brands. The company is also investing in technology like artificial intelligence (AI) to better manage its supply chain (the system of getting products from suppliers to store shelves) and to make its online and in-store shopping more convenient for customers.
Price history
Earnings history
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Is it cheap or expensive?
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $20.94 (3,698.4% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Buy below $0.44 for a 20% safety cushion. That means buying at least 20% below our fair value, as a buffer in case our estimate turns out too rosy.
Our most-likely fair value is $0.55 a share — about 96.6% below today's price of $16.14, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Net debt $15.1B. Interest coverage 1.5x.
Albertsons Companies, Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 1.5 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Total debt $15.30B Interest coverage 1.46x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $24.69B Interest coverage 2.96x +102% vs ACI Carries about 2.0x more debt cushion than ACI.
Total debt $2.06B Interest coverage 391.03x +26,628% vs ACI Carries about 267.3x more debt cushion than ACI.
Total debt $2.86B Interest coverage 20.40x +1,294% vs ACI Carries about 13.9x more debt cushion than ACI.
Total debt $647.80M Interest coverage 7.39x +405% vs ACI Carries about 5.0x more debt cushion than ACI.
What you should know
The numbers
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
Profitability
Health
Growth
Cash flow
Dividend
Metric explainer
Debt comparison
What you should know