12:07 PM EDT, 07/01/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Albertsons' ( ACI ) fiscal first-quarter results are expected to be largely in line with Wall Street's expectations, with identical sales rising year on year and core earnings falling, RBC Capital Markets said in a note Tuesday.

The brokerage is projecting a 2.2% increase in identical sales for the grocery chain, compared with the Street's growth estimate of 2.1%. RBC expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to be down 6.7% at $1.10 billion, while the market is looking for $1.09 billion.

Albertsons' ( ACI ) core grocery sales likely grew 0.3% in the quarter, slowing from a 0.6% rise in the previous three-month period, while pharmacy growth is also projected to have cooled, according to the RBC note.

"We expect margin to be pressured by pharmacy mix, continued e-commerce growth (plus) reinvestment, though this already seems to be embedded in investor expectations," RBC analyst Steven Shemesh said.

Shemesh expects Albertsons ( ACI ) to affirm its fiscal 2025 guidance.

In April, the company guided full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $2.03 to $2.16 a share, while identical sales were pegged to rise between 1.5% and 2.5%. Analysts polled by FactSet currently expect non-GAAP EPS of $2.10 and same-store sales growth of 2%.

Last month, Kroger (KR) reported a 3.2% year-on-year increase in identical sales without fuel, surpassing the Street's expectation of a 2.4% improvement.

Scanner data and the Kroger report "give us confidence that top-line has held steady," Shemesh wrote.

The guidance provided in April didn't take into account the impact of tariffs and other "potential market dislocations," Albertsons ( ACI ) Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam said during an earnings call at the time.

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