Zacks Research Weighs in on Grocery Outlet FY2028 Earnings

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ:GO) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research issued their FY2028 earnings estimates for shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 18th. Zacks Research analyst Team expects that the company will earn $0.50 per share for the year. The consensus estimate for Grocery Outlet’s current full-year earnings is $0.63 per share.

Grocery Outlet (NASDAQ:GO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Grocery Outlet had a positive return on equity of 5.93% and a negative net margin of 4.80%.The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 earnings per share. Grocery Outlet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.450-0.550 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also commented on GO. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Grocery Outlet from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Grocery Outlet from $11.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Telsey Advisory Group cut shares of Grocery Outlet from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $15.00 to $9.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Grocery Outlet in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered shares of Grocery Outlet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Grocery Outlet currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $10.68.

Grocery Outlet Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ GO opened at $5.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.77. Grocery Outlet has a twelve month low of $5.66 and a twelve month high of $19.41. The company has a market capitalization of $568.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.53, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Grocery Outlet

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GO. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Grocery Outlet during the fourth quarter worth about $177,000. Vancity Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd now owns 61,007 shares of the company’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Grocery Outlet by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,763,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,216,000 after purchasing an additional 5,528,722 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Grocery Outlet by 106.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,914,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,336,000 after purchasing an additional 987,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in Grocery Outlet by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 16,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carey F. Jaros bought 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.26 per share, with a total value of $250,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 76,066 shares in the company, valued at $476,173.16. This represents a 110.91% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey York purchased 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $5.82 per share, with a total value of $698,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 120,000 shares in the company, valued at $698,400. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 787,097 shares of company stock valued at $4,679,132 and have sold 89,493 shares valued at $524,431. 4.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Grocery Outlet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Grocery Outlet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director insider buying: Director Erik D. Ragatz substantially increased his stake, buying 33,997 shares on March 18 (~$5.85/sh) and a reported 50,000 shares on March 19 (~$5.75/sh), raising his direct holdings to ~526,500 shares. Insider purchases at current low prices can signal management confidence and provide short‑term support. InsiderTrades: Director Purchases
• Neutral Sentiment: Company profile/operations story: A feature on Grocery Outlet’s opportunistic sourcing and discount model ran on MSN, useful context for revenue and margin drivers but unlikely to move the stock materially by itself. MSN: How Grocery Outlet’s food gets onto its shelves
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple class‑action / shareholder alerts: Several law firms (Pomerantz, Robbins LLP, Bernstein Liebhard, Faruqi & Faruqi, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) have announced or reminded investors of securities‑fraud suits covering Aug. 5, 2025–Mar. 4, 2026, and set lead‑plaintiff deadlines (commonly May 15, 2026). The proliferation of filings increases legal and reputational risk, may raise defense or settlement costs, and typically weighs on the stock until resolved. Pomerantz investor alert on GO class action
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst and estimate pressure: Following the March 4 quarter (missed EPS and slightly light revenue) sell‑side firms have cut targets/ratings and services such as Zacks have trimmed multi‑year EPS views (e.g., FY2028 view lower than consensus). Downward revisions and “hold/reduce” stances constrain upside until earnings/guidance stabilize. (See recent analyst notes and coverage summaries.)

About Grocery Outlet

Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: GO) is a specialty discount retailer that offers consumers deeply discounted groceries by purchasing excess inventory, closeouts, and overstocks from manufacturers and distributors. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, the company operates two primary banners—Grocery Outlet and Fresh2Go—with a combined footprint of more than 400 stores. Its product assortment spans fresh produce, meat, dairy, bakery items, household staples, natural and organic offerings, and select specialty products, all sold at significant markdowns compared to conventional supermarkets.

The company’s unique buying model enables it to source inventory through opportunistic purchases of surplus freight, discontinued items, and closeout deals, which it then passes on as savings to its customers.