KR vs SFM vs WMT Stock Comparison

Kroger, Sprouts Farmers Market and Walmart Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KR Kroger Co
$66.79 +13.7% 1M -0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$39.87B
P/E
51.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$137.15B
Div. yield
–
Grocery Stores Consumer Staples
WMT Walmart Inc.
$120.29 +11.4% 1M +13.3% 1Y
Market cap
$948.79B
P/E
43.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$735.84B
Div. yield
0.01%
Discount Stores Consumer Staples
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sprouts Farmers Market leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Sprouts Farmers Market 7, Walmart 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKRSFMWMTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $39.87B $6.06B $948.79B WMT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.3x 12.0x 43.0x SFM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 12.6x 12.2x 38.9x SFM
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -6.7% +7.2% +6.2% SFM
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.6% 5.6% 3.0% SFM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.7% 34.2% 16.1% SFM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.4x — 0.8x WMT
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -0.5% -38.0% +13.3% WMT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.1%/yr +24.8%/yr +19.6%/yr SFM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.9% 52.6% 26.6% WMT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 33/100 75/100 48/100 SFM

Percentile Scorecard

KRSFMWMT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisKRSFMWMT
Valuation 49 #21 of 40 72 #12 of 40 10 #36 of 40
Growth 8 #35 of 38 70 #12 of 38 43 #22 of 38
Profitability 31 #25 of 36 91 #4 of 36 80 #8 of 36
Financial Health 15 #34 of 40 49 #21 of 40 64 #15 of 40
Shareholder Returns 63 #11 of 28 93 #3 of 28 44 #16 of 28
Overall 33 75 48
  • KR ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • SFM ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail
  • WMT ranked among 41 companies in Staples Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodKRSFMWMTSPY
1 month +13.7%+5.5%+11.4% -0.8%
3 months +15.2%-14.2%+7.7% +3.5%
6 months +1.4%-8.0%-5.7% +7.0%
Year to date +6.9%-17.3%+8.0% +12.2%
1 year -0.5%-38.0%+13.3% +13.0%
3 years +50.3%+51.7%+123.9% +86.3%
3 years, per year +14.6%+14.9%+30.9% +23.1%
5 years +69.2%+202.9%+144.6% +68.6%
5 years, per year +11.1%+24.8%+19.6% +11.0%
10 years +116.1%+199.9%+418.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year +8.0%+11.6%+17.9% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureKRSFMWMTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.9%52.6%26.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 29.6%59.5%28.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.700.01-0.09 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.02-0.720.50 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -31.7%-65.2%-26.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.7%-38.3%-10.4% -1.8%
52-week high $75.60$106.80$134.20 $779.14
52-week low $55.53$62.49$100.61 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleKRSFMWMT
P/E now vs peer median 52.1xmedian 22.0x 12.3xmedian 22.0x 43.3xmedian 22.0x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.5x 0.7xmedian 0.5x 1.3xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 12.0xmedian 9.8x 7.1xmedian 9.8x 21.0xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 10.1xmedian 17.8x 17.3xmedian 17.8x 70.6xmedian 17.8x
P/B now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 3.0x 4.1xmedian 3.0x 9.1xmedian 3.0x
PEG now vs peer median -3.03median 1.18 0.44median 1.18 2.56median 1.18

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsKRSFMWMT
Revenue $137.15B $9.00B $735.84B
Gross profit $31.69B $3.49B $185.66B
Operating income $1.54B $669.95M $32.28B
Net income $798.00M $502.86M $22.55B
Free cash flow – $356.80M $13.51B
EPS (diluted) $1.28 $5.33 $2.77
Cash & equivalents $1.68B $223.93M $11.53B
Total debt $17.00B – $50.41B
Shares (diluted) 608.00M 94.41M 7.98B
Enterprise value $26.02B $5.00B $905.23B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricKRSFMWMT
P/E 52.1x 12.3x 43.3x
P/FCF 10.1x 17.3x 70.6x
P/Operating cash flow – 9.2x 22.2x
P/S 0.3x 0.7x 1.3x
P/B 6.7x 4.1x 9.1x
P/Tangible book 7.9x 4.8x 9.1x
EV/EBITDA 12.0x 7.1x 21.0x
EV/EBIT 35.6x 8.9x 30.8x
EV/Revenue 0.4x 0.7x 1.3x
EV/FCF – 16.7x 73.5x
EV/Operating cash flow – 8.8x 23.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -3.03 0.44 2.56

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKRSFMWMT
Revenue growth (1Y) -6.7% 7.2% 6.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -2.5% 9.7% 5.3%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -6.7% 7.2% 7.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 11.2% 6.7%
Operating income growth (1Y) -60.8% 5.6% 11.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -16.7% 23.1% 14.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -70.8% 3.7% 2.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -21.3% 24.2% 16.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -68.6% 8.5% 3.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -17.2% 28.1% 16.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -9.4% 11.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 8.9% 4.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -29.0% -1.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 1.4% -11.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKRSFMWMT
Gross margin 23.1% 38.7% 25.2%
EBITDA margin 3.3% 9.4% 6.4%
Operating margin 1.1% 7.4% 4.4%
Pretax margin 0.7% 7.5% 4.0%
Net margin 0.6% 5.6% 3.0%
FCF margin – 4.0% 1.8%
Operating cash flow margin – 7.5% 5.8%
Return on equity 13.5% 34.3% 21.9%
Return on assets 1.6% 11.7% 7.7%
Return on invested capital 5.7% 34.2% 16.1%
Return on capital employed 4.9% 19.0% 18.3%
Asset turnover 2.8x 2.1x 2.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 1.3x 1.9x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKRSFMWMT
Debt / assets 34.3% – 17.2%
Debt / equity 2.9x – 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.4x – 0.8x
Debt / FCF – – 3.7x
Liabilities / assets 88.2% 65.4% 64.4%
Equity / assets 11.8% 34.6% 35.6%
Interest coverage 153.9x – 17.4x
Current ratio 0.7x 1.0x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.4x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.3x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 4.13 4.10 6.27

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKRSFMWMT
Dividend yield 2.2% – 0.8%
Net buyback yield – 6.3% 0.7%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 6.3% 1.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 34.1%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 57.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 8.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 8.0%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusKRSFMWMT
Forward P/E 12.6xFY2026 12.2xFY2026 38.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.30FY2026 $5.39FY2026 $3.09FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +9.3%FY2026 +1.5%FY2026 +17.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +7.0% +16.0% +1.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $160.02BFY2026 $9.10BFY2026 $719.70BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.4%FY2026 +3.3%FY2026 +0.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -6.6% +6.8% +6.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKRSFMWMT
Held by institutions 85.6% 100.0% 37.2%
Institutions holding 1,319 642 4,408
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.0% +8.8% +6.2%
Institutions buying 668 318 2,092
Institutions selling 473 237 1,838
Buyers to sellers 1.41 1.34 1.14

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

KRSFMWMT
KR 1.00 0.29 0.35
SFM 0.29 1.00 0.23
WMT 0.35 0.23 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KR, SFM and WMT?

Walmart (WMT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kroger (KR) $39.87B, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) $6.06B, Walmart (WMT) $948.79B.

Which stock is cheaper, KR, SFM and WMT?

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kroger (KR) 51.3x, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 12.0x, Walmart (WMT) 43.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) is cheapest (Kroger (KR) 12.6x, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 12.2x, Walmart (WMT) 38.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kroger (KR) -6.7%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) +7.2%, Walmart (WMT) +6.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) has the highest net margin (Kroger (KR) 0.6%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 5.6%, Walmart (WMT) 3.0%). On return on invested capital, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) leads (Kroger (KR) 5.7%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 34.2%, Walmart (WMT) 16.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Walmart (WMT) returned the most: Kroger (KR) -0.5%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) -38.0%, Walmart (WMT) +13.3%. Over five years, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) compounded fastest (Kroger (KR) +11.1%/yr, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) +24.8%/yr, Walmart (WMT) +19.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Kroger (KR) 0.00%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 0.00%, Walmart (WMT) 0.01%. Kroger (KR) and Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Walmart (WMT) has been the steadiest (Kroger (KR) 29.9%, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 52.6%, Walmart (WMT) 26.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KR, SFM and WMT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.