It wasn’t that long ago that Whole Foods Markets was in a position of enviable strength. In 2013, it was earning $551 million in profits, had operating margins of 10%, and had a trailing ten-year record of tripling earnings from $0.41 per share to $1.47 per share. Better yet, the company only had $26 million in debt, something it could flick off the shoulders of its balance sheet as it only amounted to two weeks of profit. The stock was one of the best investments you could have made during this time frame, as every dollar put into the stock ended up quintupling in value over a ten-year span.
In the past few years, Whole Foods Markets seems to have gotten away from its formula for creating shareholder wealth–open a large location in a wealthy area, and see if you can get 5% sales growth and 7% earnings growth out … Read the rest of this article!
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