Buoyed by the contributions of Stop & Shop, Food Lion, and its online business, Ahold Delhaize posted strong Q4 sales and earnings and solid results for fiscal 2025.
Corporately, the Zaandam, Netherlands-based retailer increased its net revenue by 6.1 percent and grew its comparable store sales by 2.5 percent (excluding gas).
The company’s performance in the U. S. was slightly better.
In the United States (Ahold Delhaize USA – ADUSA), net sales also rose 2.5 percent (at constant exchange rates). Comparable store revenue (excluding gas) increased 2.7 percent.
Underlying operating margin in the U.S. was 4.7 percent, up 0.5 percentage points. Higher sales leverage, improvements to online profitability, the positive effect from a shift in category mix, and lower shrink more than offset price investments and the dilutive impact from the growth in pharmacy sales, the company noted.
Ahold Delhaize’s digital offerings also performed strongly, increasing 12.9 percent (at constant exchange rates). In the U.S. alone, online sales jumped 22.8 percent.
“In grocery, success is never driven by one thing – it is many details coming together every day,” said Frans Muller, president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize. “Over the past year, our capabilities have matured, our execution has become more connected, and our teams are operating in a strong rhythm, supported by a culture of ownership and accountability. This showed up clearly in our strong execution through the holiday season, allowing us to finish the year on a high.
“In the U.S., we remain excited about our growth potential in what is still a highly fragmented market. While supermarket volumes in the region declined 2 percent in 2025, we outpaced the market and delivered positive volumes. This is a result of leaning into price investments, strengthening our own-brand assortments and expanding omnichannel convenience.”
Muller also noted progress made by several of its U.S. brands.
“Food Lion’s achievement of 53 consecutive quarters of comparable sales growth was particularly notable, while Stop & Shop delivered steadily improving trends, with positive comparable sales growth since April, as teams layered on price investments and customer experience initiatives,” he added.
During the course of 2025, under the leadership of new president Roger Wheeler, Stop & Shop also lowered thousands of everyday prices. Moreover, the Quincy, MA-based division (ADUSA’s second largest brand) remodeled more than 30 stores in 2025 in an attempt to further the regional chain’s revitalization plan for the banner that began several years ago. Price investments for the chain now cover roughly two-thirds of its fleet and are supported by a stronger private label assortment, new marketing and in-store signage, and upgraded stores.
Food Lion, as has been the case over the past few years, garnered much of the attention. The Salisbury, NC-based merchant posted significant ecommerce growth in addition to its solid comp store sales. Moreover, the largest of its U.S. brands has just broken ground on a new $860 million distribution center in Burlington, NC which will deliver fresh and frozen grocery items to its approximately 1,100 stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. The new depot is expected to open in 2029.
During the analysts conference call, JP O’Meara, Ahold Delhaize’s senior VP-investor relations, added that the company plans to increase price investments from 65 percent to 80 percent of Stop & Shop’s sales. He noted that Stop & Shop has an online penetration of around 11 percent as well as a high penetration of private brand products, proving that “things are going in the right direction” for the banner.
“There’s a new wind, a positive wind, blowing at Stop & Shop for not only the associates, but also for our customers,” O’Meara said about investments towards the banner.
Muller also noted Ahold Delhaize’s pivot to a “store-first omnichannel fulfillment network” in the United States. With the recent closure of six Giant Food and The Giant Co. ecommerce centers, the large Dutch merchant has now completed its shift to a store-first operating model. All of its U.S. banners will still continue relationships with third-party fulfillment partners like Instacart and DoorDash for delivery, with additional partnerships planned.
Ahold Delhaize is also investing in more personalization. During Q4 it completed the rollout of Prism, its proprietary digital and ecommerce platform, at all its U.S. brands – Food Lion, Hannaford, The Giant Co., Giant Food, and Stop & Shop. Prism creates a unified digital backbone for personalization at scale as it enhances opportunities in advertising and retail media.
“This enabled us to reach around 32 million customers and deliver 14 billion personalized offers in 2025,” Muller told financial analysts during the company’s post-earnings release conference call.
“As we enter 2026, we are confident in our ability to navigate change and seize opportunities. We plan to maintain momentum through continued price investments, further growth in own brands, and accelerating store openings and remodels, supporting industry-leading underlying operating margins of around 4 percent. We anticipate mid- to high-single-digit growth in diluted underlying earnings per share at constant exchange rates and at least €2.3 billion ($2.72 billion) in free cash flow. Our confidence is reflected in a proposed 6 percent dividend increase for 2025 and a €1 billion ($1.18 billion) annual share buyback program,” stated Muller.
As for Ahold Delhaize’s 2026 outlook, the international supermarket chain said that U.S. pharmacy sales will be impacted by the Inflation Reduction Act. This will have an approximate $350 million negative impact on reported and comparable store sales in the U.S. However, there is expected to be no impact to underlying operating income.
Additionally in 2026, a 53rd calendar week is expected to have a positive impact of 1.5-2 percent on net sales and a positive impact of around 2-3 percent on underlying income from continuing operations. This will not significantly impact underlying operating margin.
Ahold Delhaize’s underlying operating margin is expected to be around 4 percent. The company added that margins will be supported by its “Save for Our Customers” program, through which they expect to achieve over €1.25 billion ($1.48 billion) in savings in 2026.
Diluted underlying earnings per share are expected to grow at a mid-to high-single-digit rate at constant exchange rates, noting that its earnings guidance implies further growth and solid underlying performance, which will be partly offset by the impact of higher net financial expenses and higher taxes.
Free cash flow is expected to be at least €2.3 billion ($2.72 billion). Gross cash capital expenditures are planned at around €2.7 billion ($3.19 billion).
