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Kroger commits $5 billion to customer value while setting 2029 growth targets
The grocer’s new plan combines lower prices and store improvements with digital growth and cost savings. Its sales, EBITDA and EPS figures are management targets, not completed results.
Kroger unveiled a multi-year strategy that includes a $5 billion self-funded investment in customer value by 2029. The program spans fresh food, prepared meals, private labels, membership, simpler promotions, store formats and loyalty.
The company also set new long-term targets: about 3% comparable sales growth in 2029 excluding fuel and pharmacy, 3% to 6% annual adjusted EBITDA growth from fiscal 2027 through 2029, and 7% to 11% annual adjusted net EPS growth over the same period. The targets exclude the pending Giant Eagle acquisition and remain forward-looking.
The $5 billion plan is aimed at customer value
Kroger said it plans to invest $5 billion by 2029 in customer value, including fresh food, prepared meals, private labels, membership benefits, simpler promotions, updated store formats and loyalty programs. Finance chief David Kennerley described the program as self-funded, meaning Kroger expects operating savings to finance it rather than presenting it as an immediate one-time expense.
Kroger set a 2029 comparable-sales target
The company is targeting about 3% comparable sales growth in 2029, excluding fuel and pharmacy. That is a management target, not a completed result, and the published framework separately excludes the pending Giant Eagle acquisition.
The three-year earnings framework uses adjusted measures
For fiscal 2027 through fiscal 2029, Kroger targets adjusted EBITDA growth of 3% to 6% a year and adjusted net earnings per share growth of 7% to 11% a year. Kroger says the EPS measure replaces an earlier total-shareholder-return target, but the new ranges remain forward-looking non-GAAP goals that may not reconcile to future GAAP results until underlying events are known.
Digital sales and retail media are part of the margin plan
Kroger wants to expand e-commerce and retail-media revenue while using direct sourcing, disciplined purchasing, streamlined processes, technology and AI to reduce costs. The strategy therefore combines lower prices and better store execution with higher-margin digital businesses; it does not promise that every investment will produce the stated growth.
The 2026 outlook was reiterated, not raised
Kroger reiterated the full-year 2026 guidance it issued with its second-quarter results. Reuters reported shares rose as much as 2.6% after the investor-day announcement, but that short-term market reaction does not prove the 2029 sales or earnings targets will be achieved.
