Whole Foods is sliding after missing on earnings and slashing its guidance (WFM)

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Whole Foods is sliding after announcing quarterly earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates in addition to slashing its full-year guidance. 

The upscale grocery chain earned $0.30 per share versus the Wall Street estimate of $0.39. On an adjusted basis, earnings were in-line at $0.39 per share. 

Revenue rose 1.8% versus a year ago to $4.92 billion, but that was below the $4.98 billion that was expected. 

Shares of Whole Foods were down as much as 4.4% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. 

Comparable-store sales — at locations open for at least one year – fell 2.4%, greater than the expected decline of 1.7%.

The company says it sees full-year 2017 adjusted EPS of at least $1.33, which is below their previous estimate of $1.42 and short of the $1.44 that analysts were anticipating.  

"In this increasingly competitive marketplace, we are committed to taking every step necessary to improve comps and deliver higher returns for our shareholders," John Mackey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market said in the earnings release.

"To this end, we are refining our growth strategy, refocusing our efforts on best serving our core customers, and moving faster to fully implement category management."

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