Hungry Hungry Whole Foods: Fool by Numbers

On Feb. 21, Stock Advisor recommendation Whole Foods Market (Nasdaq: WFMI  ) released first-quarter earnings for the period ended Jan. 14.

• Sales increased by 12.2%, thanks to a 7% increase in comparable store sales.
• The company signed a definitive merger agreement with Wild Oats Markets (Nasdaq: OATS  ) for a cash tender offer of $18.50 per outstanding common share.
• For fiscal 2007, the company expects total sales growth of 13% to 17%, and comparable store sales growth of 6% to 8%.
• Whole Foods Market has earned three stars in our Motley Fool CAPS database.

(Figures in millions, except per-share data)

Income Statement Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Sales	$1,870.7	$1,667.0	12.2%
Net Profit	$53.8	$58.3	(7.8%)
EPS	$0.38	$0.40	(5.0%)
Diluted Shares	142.9	145.3	(1.7%)

Get back to basics with a look at the income statement.

Margin Checkup

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change*
Gross Margin	34.3%	34.5%	(0.2)
Operating Margin	4.6%	5.5%	(0.9)
Net Margin	2.9%	3.5%	(0.6)

*Expressed in percentage points.

Margins are the earnings engine. See how they work.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Assets	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash + ST Invest.	$148.0	$458.6	(67.7%)
Accounts Rec.	$77.7	$74.9	3.7%

Liabilities	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Accounts Payable	$140.3	$108.2	29.7%
Long-Term Debt	$2.9	$9.4	(69.7%)

Learn the ways of the balance sheet.

Cash Flow Highlights

	Q1 2007	Q1 2006	Change
Cash From Ops.	$112.4	$88.2	27.4%
Capital Expenditures	$52.1	$33.7	54.4%
Free Cash Flow	$60.3	$54.5	10.7%

Find out why Fools always follow the money.

Related Companies:

• Safeway (NYSE: SWY  )
• Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea (NYSE: GAP  )
• Kroger (NYSE: KR  )
• Weis Markets (NYSE: WMK  )
• Pathmark (Nasdaq: PTMK  )

Related Foolishness:

• Stretching a Buck at Whole Foods
• A Great Reason to Hold Whole Foods Market
• Trouble at the Top for Whole Foods?

Fool by Numbers is designed to give you the raw earnings information in a timely fashion, putting all the numbers you need in one easy-to-read place. But at The Motley Fool, we believe numbers tell only part of the story, so check Fool.com for more of our in-depth discussion of what the numbers mean. This data has been provided by Netscribes. To provide feedback on this article, please click on the "feedback" button below.