Whole Foods (WFM) Decline a Buying Opportunity? Analysts Comment

Shares of Whole foods (NASDAQ: WFM) are trading lower early on Thursday following the release of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report. While EPS was reported in-line, Whole Foods guidance was reported slightly below consensus. Whole foods also noted slower current comp trend, think analysts.

Commenting on the developments, analyst Scott A. Mushkin of Jefferies Equity research said "While there is a lot of noise in the data, investor concerns regarding comp trends could have easily been put to rest if the company indicated that sales outside the Northeast remained on trend. The fact that they did not do this, on top of other data points we have received in the last few weeks, suggests to us that a slight slowing has materialized."

Is it a big deal? Yes and no.

Some of the slowing could be related to Hurricane Sandy. Beyond this, Mushkin views deceleration as less important than overall growth.

"With underlying strong trends in natural/organic, with WFM operating itself at a high level and with the possibility of store growth acceleration, we would use any weakness as a buying opportunity," he said.

Jefferies has a Buy rating on Whole Foods Market and a price target of $105.00

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Whole Foods Market click here. For more ratings news on Whole Foods Market click here.

Shares of Whole Foods Market closed at $95.93 yesterday.

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