United Natural Foods (NASDAQ: UNFI) reported Q4 EPS of $0.72, $0.02 better than the analyst estimate of $0.70. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.34 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion.

GUIDANCE:

United Natural Foods sees FY2018 EPS of $2.67-$2.77, versus the consensus of $2.67. United Natural Foods sees FY2018 revenue of $9.63-9.81 billion, versus the consensus of $9.75 billion.

Fiscal 2018 Guidance

UNFI is providing its financial outlook for fiscal 2018, ending July 28, 2018. The Company expects net sales for fiscal 2018 in the range of approximately $9.63 billion to $9.81 billion, an increase of 3.8% to 5.8% over fiscal 2017 net sales. The Company estimates earnings per diluted share for fiscal 2017 in the range of approximately $2.67 to $2.77, an increase of approximately 4.3% to 8.2% over fiscal 2017 earnings per diluted share of $2.56. Capital expenditures for fiscal 2018 are expected to be 0.6% to 0.7% of estimated fiscal 2018 net sales. Effective during the first quarter of fiscal 2018, UNFI is adopting Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2016-09, Improvement to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. The adoption will affect the Company’s effective tax rate and increase its variability. The Company’s stock price will be a key driver of this variability. Based on a stock price of $37, the adoption of ASU 2016-09 is expected to raise the fiscal 2018 tax rate by approximately 75 basis points to within a range of 40.3% to 40.7% and negatively impact earnings per diluted share by $0.03. The impact of the adoption is expected to be almost entirely in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 which aligns with the vesting of the Company’s annual equity-based awards. The Company’s guidance is based on current plans and expectations and is subject to a number of known and unknown uncertainties and risks, including those set forth under the Company’s safe harbor statement of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 below.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2017 Highlights

• Gross margin for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 increased 15 basis points to 15.75% compared to the same period last year
• Gross margin for fiscal 2017 increased 31 basis points to 15.41% compared to the same period last year
• Fourth quarter fiscal 2017 earnings per diluted share was $0.76; Adjusted earnings per diluted share was $0.72
• Fiscal 2017 earnings per diluted share was $2.56; Adjusted earnings per diluted share was $2.57
• Cash flow from operations for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017 was $117.7 million and capital expenditures were $16.1 million, resulting in free cash flow of $101.6 million
• Cash flow from operations for fiscal 2017 was $280.8 million and capital expenditures were $56.1 million, resulting in free cash flow of $224.7 million

For earnings history and earnings-related data on United Natural Foods (UNFI) click here.