Albertsons Companies, Inc. reports developments for a U.S. food and drug retailer operating grocery, pharmacy, fuel, distribution and manufacturing assets under banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw's, Tom Thumb and Randalls. Recurring updates cover quarterly and annual results, identical sales, pharmacy sales, digital sales, loyalty and e-commerce initiatives, and customer-facing services such as DriveUp & Go prescription pickup and online occasion-planning tools.
Company news also includes capital-allocation actions such as common stock dividends and share repurchase authorization, board composition changes, pharmacy-operating matters, opioid-related litigation updates, community-support programs through the Albertsons Companies Foundation, and technology or advertising pilots connected to customer engagement.
Albertsons Companies (ACI) appointed Bill Boltz, Chris Drumgoole and Meg Ham to its board of directors, effective October 14, 2026. The board will expand from 11 to 14 members, following the recent appointment of Meg Whitman as Executive Chair.
Boltz is Executive Vice President of Merchandising at Lowe's Companies, and Drumgoole is Chief Operating Officer of Aligned Data Centers. Ham most recently served as President of Food Lion and currently serves on Tractor Supply Company's board. Albertsons expects their retail, grocery operations and technology experience to support its growth strategy and business modernization.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) appointed Cody Perdue as Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective September 30, 2026, succeeding Sharon McCollam. Perdue will continue overseeing treasury, investor relations and risk management. McCollam, who previously announced plans to retire as President and Chief Financial Officer, will remain an adviser through Feb. 27, 2027. The search for a permanent Chief Financial Officer is underway.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) will release its second-quarter fiscal 2026 financial results before the market opens on October 13, 2026. The quarter ended September 12, 2026. A conference call will follow that day at 8:30 a.m. EDT, with a replay available for approximately two weeks after the call.
Albertsons Media Collective (ACI) launched Retail Media Incrementality-Based Multi-Touch Attribution on September 17, 2026, a measurement solution built with LiveRamp to give advertisers a single, deduplicated view of incremental sales impact across major digital media platforms.
The tool uses LiveRamp’s Cross-Media Intelligence infrastructure to connect impression-level exposure data from Albertsons Media Collective’s owned channels, offsite media and partners such as Meta with Albertsons transaction data in a neutral, privacy-conscious environment. It aims to replace siloed, last-touch reporting with full-funnel, incrementality-based attribution across the customer journey. PepsiCo is an early pilot partner using the solution to evaluate cross-channel media effectiveness and simplify reporting.
Albertsons Companies (ACI) appointed Meg Whitman as Executive Chair of its Board of Directors, expanding the board from 10 to 11 members.
Kim Fennebresque has transitioned from Chair to Lead Independent Director. In the newly created role, Whitman will support CEO Susan Morris and the senior team as an operations and strategic advisor, helping sharpen strategy, strengthen execution and drive profitable growth. The company said her experience will be particularly relevant as Albertsons streamlines its operating structure around AI technologies and enhances consistency across stores and digital channels. Whitman brings more than 40 years of leadership, including prior CEO roles at eBay and Hewlett-Packard, and current and past service on multiple corporate boards.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) is promoting fall and back-to-school health by offering free flu immunizations* at more than 1,700 pharmacy locations across banners such as Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s, ACME and Tom Thumb.
Customers who receive a qualifying vaccination get a coupon for up to $20 off their next grocery purchase. Pharmacies accept walk-ins and online appointments, provide evening and weekend hours, and offer additional vaccines including RSV, pneumonia, shingles, hepatitis B, tetanus and HPV, subject to eligibility and availability. New pharmacy customers may also earn grocery savings when they fill or transfer a prescription for the first time and can use tools like digital vaccine records and DriveUp & Go prescription pickup at participating locations.
Albertsons (NYSE: ACI) announced a new Safeway plugin in ChatGPT, extending its AI-powered grocery shopping tools. The plugin lets shoppers use natural language in ChatGPT to reorder weekly lists, discover new products, find items on sale, plan meals, and build Safeway carts.
The experience connects customer requests to relevant Safeway products, cart, and checkout services. Shoppers sign into their Safeway account, invoke “@Safeway” in ChatGPT, and are redirected to Safeway’s platform to complete checkout, retaining full control to review, compare, modify, or remove suggested items before purchase.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) reported first quarter fiscal 2026 net sales of $24.9 billion, up 0.2% year over year, as a 0.8% decline in identical sales was offset by higher fuel revenue. Digital sales grew 13%, while pharmacy sales increased despite Inflation Reduction Act headwinds. Net income fell to $84.7 million ($0.17 per share) from $236.4 million ($0.41), and adjusted net income declined to $210.3 million ($0.42 per share). Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $1.01 billion, or 4.1% of sales.
The company launched ACI Edge, consolidating 11 divisions into four regions and centralizing center‑store merchandising to accelerate execution and leverage scale. Capital expenditures were $522.1 million, including 15 remodels and four new stores. The Board raised the quarterly dividend 13% to $0.17 per share and expanded the share repurchase authorization to $2.0 billion, with 13.4 million shares repurchased for $226.5 million in the quarter.
Albertsons cut its fiscal 2026 outlook, now expecting identical sales of (1.5)% to (0.5)% (from 0.0% to 1.0%), adjusted EBITDA of $3.55–$3.625 billion (from $3.85–$3.925 billion) and adjusted EPS of $1.75–$1.85 (from $2.22–$2.32). Planned capital expenditures were reduced to $1.9–$2.0 billion from $2.0–$2.2 billion.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) announced a new regional operating model and expansion of its Merch United merchandising approach to simplify operations and speed decisions. The company will consolidate its current 11 divisions into four regions (California, West, South, East), each built around local markets focused on supporting stores and communities.
Albertsons is also centralizing center store merchandising, uniting customer insights, supplier relationships, product, placement, promotion and pricing under one enterprise team while keeping fresh merchandising decisions in local markets. The company said the changes, combined with growing data and AI capabilities, are intended to improve in-stock performance, accountability and customer experience without realigning stores or districts.
Albertsons Companies (NYSE: ACI) announced that President and Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam plans to retire later in 2026. She will remain in her dual role until a successor is appointed and then continue as an advisor through the end of the fiscal year on February 27, 2027.