Why Whole Foods Market, Inc. Stock Jumped Today

What happened

Shares of natural and organic grocer Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM) jumped as much as 5.6% on Thursday after the company reported second-quarter results, refreshed its board of directors, and announced a new CFO. The stock is up 1.6% at the time of this writing.

So what

For its second quarter, financial results were about in line with analyst expectations. On average, analysts expected revenue and adjusted EPS of $3.73 billion and $0.37, respectively. Revenue was slightly above expectations, at $3.74 billion, and adjusted EPS matched the consensus analyst estimate.

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Image source: Whole Foods Market.

The company's change-up to its board of directors marked a "significant refreshment," according to a Whole Foods press release. The company appointed five new independent directors and announced that current independent director Gabrielle Sulzberger would now serve as the board's chair.

Kohl's former Senior Vice President of Digital Finance, Strategy Management, and Business Transformation is joining Whole Foods as chief financial officer on May 17, according to Whole Foods.

The changes show a sign of aggressiveness from management as the company aims to accelerate its return to growth.

Now what

Alongside these financial results and leadership changes, the company importantly said it plans to return to positive same-store sales comparisons and earnings growth by the end of fiscal year 2018.

Also, Whole Foods provided investors with an optimistic outlook for 2020, which notably includes same-store sales growth of greater than 2% and cash flow from operations of over $1.2 billion.

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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Daniel Sparks has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.