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Kroger Company (NYSE:KR) shares are trading higher on Thursday.
The company reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.14, beating the street view of $1.11. Quarterly sales of $34.308 billion missed the analyst consensus estimate of $34.509 billion.
The LIFO charge for the quarter was $30 million, compared to a LIFO credit of $18 million for the same period last year.
Gross margin was 22.7% of sales for the fourth quarter compared to 22.3% for the same period last year. The improvement in gross margin was primarily attributable to the sale of Kroger Specialty Pharmacy and lower shrink, partially offset by lower pharmacy margins and the LIFO charge.
The FIFO …
