Sifting through countless of stocks in the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc.

The Kroger Co. operates as a food and drug retailer in the United States. The company operates combination food and drug stores, multi-department stores, marketplace stores, and price impact warehouses. Its combination food and drug stores offer natural food and organic sections, pharmacies, general merchandise, pet centers, fresh seafood, and organic produce; and its multi-department stores provide apparel, home fashion and furnishings, outdoor living, electronics, automotive products, and toys. The company’s marketplace stores offer full-service grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty care, and perishable goods, as well as general merchandise, including apparel, home goods, and toys; and its price impact warehouse stores provide grocery, and health and beauty care items, as well as meat, dairy, baked goods, and fresh produce items. It also manufactures and processes food products for sale in its supermarkets and online; and sells fuel through its fuel centers. The company sells its products through its stores, fuel centers, and online platforms. The Kroger Co. was founded in 1883 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products in the United States. The company offers healthy grocery stores; and lifestyle-friendly ingredients such as organic, plant-based, keto, paleo, non-GMO, and gluten-free. The company also offers perishable product categories, including produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care. It sells its products under the Sprouts brand. The company was founded in 1943 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

Latest Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail and The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, The Kroger Co. had a $35.4 billion market capitalization, compared to the Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail median of $5.6 million. The Kroger Co.’s stock is down 7.6% in 2026, up 1.5% in the previous five trading days and down 16.68% in the past year.

Currently, The Kroger Co.’s price-earnings ratio is 35.3. The Kroger Co.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $148.6 billion with a 0.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 2.2%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.215 per share for the current fiscal year. The Kroger Co. currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. had a $8.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 75th percentile of all stocks. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.’s stock is up 9.4% in 2026, up 16.4% in the previous five trading days and down 44.86% in the past year.

Currently, Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 16.7. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $9.0 billion with a 5.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 4.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.546 per share for the current fiscal year. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
The Kroger Co.	KR	B
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.	SFM	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

The Kroger Co. has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a Growth Score of 95, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than The Kroger Co.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
The Kroger Co.	KR	A
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.	SFM	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

The Kroger Co. has a Quality Score of 95, which is Very Strong. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a Quality Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
The Kroger Co.	KR	D
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.	SFM	D

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

The Kroger Co. has a Momentum Score of 24, which is Weak. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 23, which is Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market or Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. Grades

In addition to Momentum, Quality and Growth, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market or Inc. Stock?

Overall, The Kroger Co. stock has a Growth Score of 73, Momentum Score of 24 and Quality Score of 95.

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 95, Momentum Score of 23 and Quality Score of 82.

Comparing The Kroger Co., Sprouts Farmers Market and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.