Woolworths Group's (ASX:WOW) food gross margins held up well given the competitive environment, RBC Capital Markets said in a Wednesday note.
The group's fiscal 2026 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were a "solid" 2.1% beat to RBC's estimated group EBIT, underpinned by the Australian food segment EBIT beating expectations by 1.6%.
The first eight weeks of 7.6% sales growth, or around 5.6% to 6.1% on an underlying basis, shows strength continuing into the first fiscal 2027 quarter and tracking around 2% ahead of Coles' (ASX:COL) underlying estimates. However, Woolworths had a soft result in the fiscal 2026 first quarter, it noted.
Its New Zealand food segment fourth fiscal quarter sales growth was a 50 basis points miss to RBC's estimates and a 70 basis points miss compared with consensus estimates. EBIT was a 3.4% miss to RBC's estimates and a 0.9% miss compared with consensus estimates.
The brokerage assigned Woolworths an underperform rating and a price target of AU$35 per share.