Feb 22, 2024
Canada's biggest grocer hits all-time high twice in one week
, Bloomberg News
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Loblaw Companies Ltd. set an all-time high for the second time this week as Canada’s biggest grocer rallied on a fourth-quarter earnings beat and expansion plans.
Shares ended the session up 3.5 per cent to close at $142.92 Thursday, the highest price for the stock since Loblaw began trading on the public markets in January 1983. The grocer earned an adjusted $2.00 per share in its fourth quarter, surpassing analyst estimates by ten cents.
Earnings were bolstered by sales growth in pharmacy and healthcare services as well as e-commerce. Loblaw topped its previous record set on Tuesday when the grocer announced it would be putting $2 billion toward adding 40 new stores to its network and renovating more than 700 others.
Loblaw will continue to outperform its peers like Empire Company Ltd. and Metro Inc. given its broader exposure to discount brands and pharmacy retail locations, according to Michael Van Aelst, an analyst at Toronto-Dominion Bank. Loblaw has a “superior 2024 earnings outlook” compared to Metro and Empire, he said.
Loblaw shares have advanced 11 per cent year-to-date, nearly doubling Metro’s growth of 6.3 per cent and Empire’s 3.0 per cent decline.
