A Whole Foods home run in Q1

Same stores sales increase 6.9% and earnings per share increased 19% to 76 cents, three cents better than analysts forecast. The company’s performance was favorable across the board, according to co-founder, and co-CEO John Mackey.

"We delivered another quarter of strong sales and earnings growth, reporting record results on many levels," Mackey said. "The demand for fresh, healthy foods continues to grow, and we are leading the way as America's healthiest grocery store with close to seven million customers visiting our stores each week. We believe we will continue to gain market share as we accelerate our new store openings, improve our relative value proposition while maintaining our high quality standards, and further differentiate our shopping experience."

The company ended its second quarter April 14 with 349 stores.

Based on the company’s results for the first half of the fiscal year, the full year financial forecasts for sales was narrowed to a range of 12% to 14% and the earnings per share forecast was raised to a range of $2.86 from $2.89, encompassing analysts’ estimate of $2.87.

The stock split the company announced with take effect on May 29 for holders of record on May 17.