Data & Analytics

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway surprised analysts Thursday morning with fourth-quarter earnings per share of 62 cents, well above a consensus of 57 cents among analysts.

Total sales were up 0.9% to $12.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Higher fuel sales and an increase in the Canadian exchange rate were offset by reduced sales due to store closures and a 0.8% decline in identical-store sales, excluding fuel, the grocer reported. Same-store sales, excluding fuel, declined 0.5%. Fuel sales rose 23%.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Thursday by Bloomberg found that consumer confidence for the week ended Feb. 20 rose to the highest level since April 2008 as Americans grew less pessimistic about their personal finances.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, formerly the ABC News U.S. Weekly Consumer Comfort Index, was minus 39.2 in the period to Feb. 20, compared with minus 43.4 the prior week, the report showed.

Nearly half (49%) of those polled held positive views on their financial situation, the most in a year.

Members shopped Sam’s Club more often and spent more on each trip during the fourth quarter, propelling Sam’s to a 2.7% same-store sales increase, while operating profits were flat. The forecast for the first quarter calls for same-store sales to increase between 1% and 3%.

Everyone has an opinion on Walmart, especially given the subpar performance of the U.S. stores division. The search for answers makes for some interesting conversations such as the one that took place earlier this week on the financial news network CNBC. Click here to watch. 

Dallas -- Zale Corp. said Thursday that net income for the quarter ended Jan. 31 surged to $27.2 million, compared with $6.7 million a year earlier.

Zale, which has struggled to regain profitability as the economy improves, posted net income of $27.2 million compared with $6.7 million, or 21 cents per share a year ago. Sales rose to $626.4 million for the quarter, from $582.3 million. Same-store sale rose 7.9%, compared with a decrease of 11.2% during the comparable period in the prior year.

Salt Lake City -- Video interviewing solution-provider HireVue said Thursday that Nike has selected it to support its campus recruiting program, adding HireVue’s video interviewing platform to Nike’s recruiting process.

Pleasanton, Calif. -- Safeway reported Thursday net income of $229.6 million for the quarter ended Jan. 1, compared with a loss of $1.61 billion in the year-ago period, based on a hefty charge for the reduced value of its assets.

The grocery chain said revenue inched up 1% to $12.8 billion from $12.69 billion, topping Wall Street estimates of $12.45 billion.

Analysts don’t like surprises, especially the negative kind, where results are worse than forecast, so there wasn’t a lot of love for Walmart earlier this week after the company reported a disappointing 1.8% fourth quarter comp decline. Never mind that earnings per share exceeded consensus estimate by three cents, analysts were clearly peeved by the top line shortfall at the stores division, and having been burned by the company’s earlier guidance expressed little confidence in the company’s ability to deliver on its strategic objectives.