United Natural Foods Expected To Deliver Record-Setting Quarter, High-Teens Growth

Shares of United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI fell marginally on Monday morning, in anticipation of the announcement of the company’s third quarter financial results, scheduled for after the market closes. Moreover, the stock has fallen about 20 percent in the past three months.

Despite the declines in the stock price, United Natural Foods is expected to deliver a record-setting quarter. The Street is modeling consensus earnings of $0.86 per share on revenue of $2.136 billion, while the crowd is projecting earnings of $0.85 per share on revenue of $2.129 billion (Estimize).

This implies an increase of at least 16 percent from the earnings of $0.73 per share reported in the same quarter last year, when revenue came in at $1.782 billion.

The current estimates also suggest revenue will grow year-over-year, by about 20 percent, to an all-time high.

Analyst Impressions

A couple of months ago, analysts at Oppenheimer met with United Natural Foods’ CFO Mark Shamber in Canada, and reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock.

Related Link: Oppenheimer Met With United Natural Foods Management; Here's What Happened

"Based on our recent investor conversations, the slowdown in the conventional channel and out of stocks have remained at the top of investor concerns,” the experts commented. “Overall, the tone of management remained positive toward the company's competitive position, industry demand dynamics, the Tony's acquisition, and M&A opportunities.”

"We are optimistic that stronger conventional trends and improving out of stocks could fuel healthier comp trends in coming quarters,” they added, concluding that the company's shares offer “attractive upside potential for investors with a multi-quarter time horizon.”