Whole Foods Is Just Another Grocery Chain in Investors’ Eyes
A customer shops at a Whole Foods Market store in Oakland, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Whole Foods Market Inc. is no longer the Wall Street darling it used to be.
The company, once favored for its massive stock returns and rapid sales growth, used to trade at more than four times rival Kroger Co.’s price-to-earnings valuation. After another disappointing earnings report on Wednesday, the company closed Thursday at just a 3.6 percent premium to Kroger, the lowest in more than six years.