There's some serious lettuce to be made in premium groceries. Upscale supermarket operator The Fresh Market
Net sales climbed 16% to $320.8 million, as reasonable expansion and a 7% spike in comps -- the company's strongest store-level sales performance in five years -- pushed the high-end grocer's top line higher. Things get even better on the bottom line, as adjusted net income soared 26% to $0.38 a share.
There's not a whole lot of consensus around Fooldom when it comes to the stock. Bears aren't sold on The Fresh Market's lackluster sales-per-square-foot performance, trailing the industry average. However, the fast-growing chain delivers margins that make its larger rivals jealous. The Fresh Market scored net margins of 5.7% during the holiday quarter and 4.6% for all of fiscal 2011.
If that doesn't seem like much, you're probably not familiar with the supermarket industry. Net margins usually clock in from 1% to 3%, as grocers work on high turnover to offset meager markups. Whole Foods Market
Margins get even tinier when we turn our attention to traditional chains. Kroger
The Fresh Market is still early in its growth cycle. It has just a third as many stores as Whole Foods, and The Fresh Market stores are just a little more than half the size of a typical Whole Foods. It opened 13 new locations last year, and currently has 115 boutique markets that specialize in fresh, premium-priced fare. Another 14 to 16 stores should open this year, and The Fresh Market sees comps climbing 4% to 6%. Adjusted earnings should climb 18% to 22%, but that brings us to the valuation argument.
If The Fresh Market lands in the middle of its bottom-line profit guidance of $1.26 a share to $1.31 a share, we're looking at a company trading at a hefty 35 times this year's earnings.
That certainly doesn't seem cheap. Whole Foods also happens to be fetching 35 times this year's income target, but sleepy Kroger is at a more reasonable multiple of 10.
Is it justified? As a high-end option with chunky margins to match, The Fresh Market deserves a market premium. Teavana
Teavana is growing faster than The Fresh Market, but Blue Nile
Weigh The Fresh Market as a premium retailer. Give it props for its expanding margins. The stock isn't cheap, but that doesn't mean it's expensive.
Checking out
The Fresh Market is trading marginally higher since I recommended it to Rule Breakers newsletter subscribers a year ago, but now it's time to discover the next rule-breaking multibagger. It's a free report. Want it? Get it.