Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) – The Fresh Market Inc (TFM) Earnings: Decent Company, Not-So-Great Stock

If we dig a little further, we might see that other shoppers — many of the same demographic that would frequent Whole Foods — feel the same way. Of the company’s 3.4% increase in same-store sales, only half of it — or 1.8% total — came from increased traffic. That’s not great for a chain with a relatively young fleet of stores. Sprouts, for comparison’s sake, increased traffic by 5.4%, while Whole Foods didn’t break out this metric in its most recent report.

On the conference call, analysts were also quick to question why new Fresh Market stores were only showing a 79% productivity rate. New store productivity is a measure of how productive a new store’s revenue is compared with established stores. Fresh Market executives aim for a range with a midpoint of 85%.

Taken as a whole, the message is clear: The Fresh Market isn’t a “bad” company, but it’s not an inspiring one, either. And in the grocery business, if you aren’t inspiring, you certainly don’t deserve such a high premium.

The article Fresh Market Earnings: Decent Company, Not-So-Great Stock originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Brian Stoffel.

Fool contributor Brian Stoffel owns shares of Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ:WFM). The Motley Fool recommends The Fresh Market and Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Whole Foods Market.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.