What happened?
Shares of grocery store chain Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ: SFM) fell 19.3% in the morning session after the company reported third-quarter 2026 financial results and projected a contraction in full-year comparable store sales.
According to a company press release, Sprouts Farmers Market projected full-year 2026 net sales growth of approximately 4.3% and comparable store sales of roughly (1.7)%. The grocer forecast full-year earnings before interest and taxes of roughly $605 million alongside diluted earnings per share of approximately $4.80. Sprouts also stated it expected 42 net new store openings and capital expenditures net of landlord reimbursements of approximately $310 million. Comparable store sales are a critical performance metric evaluating demand at established locations. A projected decline in same-store sales indicated weakening customer traffic and spending, triggering concerns about profitability despite unit expansion.
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What is the market telling us
Sprouts’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 14 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for Sprouts and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 12 months ago when the stock dropped 25.4% on the news that the company reported third-quarter results that featured a revenue miss and weak guidance for the upcoming fourth quarter, which overshadowed an earnings beat.
Sprouts is down 39.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $48.71 per share, it is trading 53.4% below its 52-week high of $104.55 from October 2025. Despite the year-to-date decline, investors who bought $1,000 worth of Sprouts’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $2,200.
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