Kroger Shares Fall 4% After Weaker-than-expected Sales Number

The Kroger Co. shares fell 4% in premarket trade Thursday, after the supermarket chain reported weaker-than-expected sales for its fiscal fourth quarter. Kroger said it had net income of $559 million, or 57 cents a share, in the quarter, up from $518 million, or 53 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales rose to $26.165 billion from $25.207 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 54 cents and sales of $26.276 billion. Looking ahead, the company said it expects fiscal 2016 EPS of $2.19 to $2.28, compared with a FactSet consensus of $2.24. Shares have gained 16% in the last 12 months, outperforming the S&P 500, which is down about 7%.