Exhibit 99.1

Kroger Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results

and Updates Guidance for 2026

Second Quarter Highlights

CINCINNATI, September 11, 2026 – The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today reported results for its second quarter ended August 15, 2026. Kroger reaffirmed its full-year adjusted net earnings per diluted share guidance, lowered its full-year 2026 identical sales without fuel guidance, and shared progress on key priorities.

Comments from CEO Greg Foran

“Kroger delivered a solid second quarter, with adjusted EPS growth of 5 percent. I am pleased with the progress we are making. Our teams kept driving value for customers, improving execution in our stores, growing eCommerce profitably and managing costs with discipline. Improving sales momentum remains a top priority. While there is more work to do, I am confident in our plan to become America's favorite grocer."

¹ Adjusted eCommerce sales exclude the effect of fulfillment center exits in markets where Kroger does not operate stores, the sale of Vitacost, and the discontinuation of Ship Marketplace.

Second Quarter Financial Results

⁽¹⁾ Without fuel and includes an unfavorable 138 basis point impact from the Inflation Reduction Act.

⁽²⁾ Without rent, depreciation and amortization, fuel and adjustment items, if applicable.

⁽³⁾ Without fuel and adjustment items, if applicable.

Total company sales were $34.6 billion in the second quarter compared to $33.9 billion for the same period last year. Excluding fuel, the sale of Vitacost and the exit of certain fulfillment centers, sales increased 0.1% compared to the same period last year.

Gross margin was 22.4% of sales for the second quarter compared to 22.5% for the same period last year. The decrease in rate was primarily driven by the mix effect of higher fuel sales, higher shrink, higher transportation costs and greater value delivered for customers. These pressures were partially offset by improvement in eCommerce profitability and media, favorable pharmacy mix, sourcing initiatives, tariff refunds, the decreased LIFO charge and depreciation and amortization.

The FIFO gross margin rate, excluding rent, depreciation and amortization, and fuel increased 13 basis points compared to the same period last year. The improvement was primarily driven by improvement in eCommerce profitability and media, favorable pharmacy mix, sourcing initiatives and tariff refunds. These benefits were partially offset by higher shrink, higher transportation costs and greater value delivered for customers.

The LIFO charge for the quarter was $39 million, compared to a LIFO charge of $62 million for the same period last year.

The Operating, General and Administrative rate, excluding fuel and adjustment items, increased 33 basis points compared to the same period last year. The increase was primarily attributable to planned investments in associate wages, increased health care costs, and sales deleverage, partially offset by lower incentive plan costs and ongoing productivity initiatives.

Capital Allocation

Kroger expects to continue to generate strong free cash flow and remains committed to investing in the business to drive long-term sustainable net earnings growth, as well as maintaining its current investment grade debt rating. The Company expects to continue to pay its quarterly dividend and expects this to increase over time, subject to board approval.

Earlier this quarter, Kroger increased its dividend by 11%, marking the 20th consecutive year of dividend increases. Additionally, during the quarter, Kroger repurchased $1.0 billion in shares and year-to-date has repurchased $1.2 billion in shares under the $2 billion board authorization announced in December 2025. As of the end of the second quarter, approximately $800 million remains of the authorization, and Kroger expects to complete the remaining repurchases by the end of fiscal 2026.

Kroger’s net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio is 1.91, compared to 1.63 a year ago (Table 5). The company’s net total debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio target range is 2.30 to 2.50. Kroger’s strong balance sheet provides ample opportunities for the Company to invest in the business and enhance shareholder value.

Full-Year 2026 Guidance*

* Without adjusted items, if applicable. Kroger is unable to provide a full reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP measures used in 2026 guidance without unreasonable effort because it is not possible to predict certain of our adjustment items with a reasonable degree of certainty. This information is dependent upon future events and may be outside of our control and its unavailability could have a significant impact on 2026 GAAP financial results.

** Includes approximately 140 basis points unfavorable impact from the Inflation Reduction Act.

*** The adjusted tax rate reflects typical tax adjustments and does not reflect changes to the rate from the completion of income tax audit examinations and changes in tax laws and policies, which cannot be predicted.

Comments from CFO David Kennerley

“Our second quarter results demonstrate the resiliency of Kroger's business model and the discipline with which our teams are executing. Adjusted earnings per diluted share grew 5%, driven by cost savings, strong pharmacy and fuel performance, and improvement in the profitability of our eCommerce business.

Given our first half results and the macro environment, we are updating our identical sales without fuel guidance to a new range of 0.2% to 0.8%, which includes an approximately 140 basis point headwind from the Inflation Reduction Act. We are reaffirming our adjusted FIFO net operating profit and adjusted earnings per diluted share guidance, reflecting our confidence and visibility into the same factors that drove our profitability in the second quarter. We will continue to invest in the business for growth, manage our margins with discipline and create long-term shareholder value.”

Kroger will host an investor update meeting on October 20, 2026. Additional details regarding the Company’s strategic initiatives and longer-term financial targets will be shared at that event.

About Kroger

The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) is one of America’s largest retailers, serving more than 11 million customers daily through a digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names. With more than 400,000 associates across our family of companies, Kroger is committed to providing America with affordable, great-tasting food and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

Kroger's second quarter 2026 ended on August 15, 2026.

Note: Fuel sales have historically had a low gross margin rate and operating expense rate as compared to corresponding rates on non-fuel sales. As a result, Kroger discusses the changes in these rates excluding the effect of fuel.

Please refer to the supplemental information presented in the tables for reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to the most comparable GAAP financial measure and related disclosure. As noted above, Kroger is unable to provide a full reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP measures used in its guidance without unreasonable effort because it is not possible to predict certain of our adjustment items with a reasonable degree of certainty. This information is dependent upon future events and may be outside of our control and its unavailability could have a significant impact on GAAP financial results.

This press release contains certain statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” about Kroger’s financial position and the future performance of the company. These statements are based on management’s assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. Such statements are indicated by words or phrases such as “achieve,” “committed,” “confidence,” “continue,” “drive,” “expect,” “focused,” “future,” “guidance,” “may,” “model,” “opportunities,” “outlook,” “remain,” “strategy,” “target,” “trends,” “visibility,” “will,” and variations of such words and similar phrases. Various uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include the specific risk factors identified in “Risk Factors” in our annual report on Form 10-K for our last fiscal year and any subsequent filings, as well as the following:

Kroger's ability to achieve sales, earnings, incremental FIFO operating profit, and adjusted free cash flow goals may be affected by: labor negotiations; potential work stoppages; changes in the unemployment rate; pressures in the labor market; changes in government-funded benefit programs; changes in the types and numbers of businesses that compete with Kroger; pricing and promotional activities of existing and new competitors, and the aggressiveness of that competition; Kroger's response to these actions; the state of the economy, including interest rates, the inflationary, disinflationary and/or deflationary trends and such trends in certain commodities, products and/or operating costs; the geopolitical environment including wars and conflicts; unstable political situations and social unrest; changes in tariffs; the effect that fuel costs have on consumer spending; volatility of fuel margins; manufacturing commodity costs; supply constraints; diesel fuel costs related to Kroger’s logistics operations; trends in consumer spending; the extent to which Kroger’s customers exercise caution in their purchasing in response to economic conditions; the uncertainty of economic growth or recession; stock repurchases; changes in the regulatory environment in which Kroger operates, along with changes in federal policy and at state and federal regulatory agencies; Kroger’s ability to retain pharmacy sales from third party payors; consolidation in the healthcare industry, including pharmacy benefit managers; Kroger’s ability to negotiate modifications to multi-employer pension plans; natural disasters or adverse weather conditions; the effect of public health crises or other significant catastrophic events; the potential costs and risks associated with potential cyber-attacks or data security breaches; the success of Kroger's future growth plans; the ability to execute our growth strategy and value creation model, including continued cost savings, growth of our media business, and our ability to better serve our customers and to generate customer loyalty and sustainable growth through our strategic pillars of fresh, our brands, personalization, and eCommerce; the outcome of litigation matters, including those relating to the terminated transaction with Albertsons; and the risks relating to or arising from our opioid litigation settlements, including the risk of litigation relating to persons, entities, or jurisdictions that do not participate in those settlements. Our ability to achieve these goals may also be affected by our ability to manage the factors identified above. Our ability to execute our financial strategy may be affected by our ability to generate cash flow.

Kroger’s adjusted effective tax rate may differ from the expected rate due to changes in tax laws and policies, the status of pending items with various taxing authorities, and the deductibility of certain expenses.

Kroger assumes no obligation to update the information contained herein unless required by applicable law. Please refer to Kroger's reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties.

Note: Kroger's quarterly conference call with investors will broadcast live at 8 a.m. (ET) on September 11, 2026 at ir.kroger.com. An on-demand replay of the webcast will be available at approximately 1 p.m. (ET) on Friday, September 11, 2026.

2^nd Quarter 2026 Tables Include:

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Contacts: Media: Erin Rolfes (513) 762-1080; Investors: Rob Quast (513) 762-4969

Table 1.

THE KROGER CO.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in millions, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)

Table 2.

THE KROGER CO.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in millions)
(unaudited)

Table 3.

THE KROGER CO.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in millions)
(unaudited)

Table 4. Supplemental Sales Information

(in millions, except percentages)
(unaudited)

Items identified below should not be considered as alternatives to sales or any other GAAP measure of performance. Identical sales is an industry-specific measure, and it is important to review it in conjunction with Kroger's financial results reported in accordance with GAAP. Other companies in our industry may calculate identical sales differently than Kroger does, limiting the comparability of the measure.

Kroger defines identical sales, excluding fuel, as sales to retail customers, including sales from all departments at identical supermarket locations, jewelry and ship-to-home solutions. Kroger defines a supermarket as identical when it has been in operation without expansion or relocation for five full quarters. We include Kroger Delivery sales as identical if the delivery occurs in an existing Kroger Supermarket geography or when the location has been in operation for five full quarters.

IDENTICAL SALES

Table 5. Reconciliation of Net Total Debt and

Net Earnings Attributable to The Kroger Co. to Adjusted EBITDA

(in millions, except for ratio)
(unaudited)

The items identified below should not be considered an alternative to any GAAP measure of performance or access to liquidity. Net total debt to adjusted EBITDA is an important measure used by management to evaluate the Company's access to liquidity. The items below should be reviewed in conjunction with Kroger's financial results reported in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net total debt.

The following table provides a reconciliation from net earnings attributable to The Kroger Co. to adjusted EBITDA, as defined in the Company's credit agreement, on a rolling four quarter basis.

Table 6. Net Earnings Per Diluted Share Excluding the Adjustment Items

(in millions, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)

The purpose of this table is to better illustrate comparable operating results from our ongoing business, after removing the effects on net earnings per diluted common share for certain items described below. Adjusted net earnings and adjusted net earnings per diluted share are useful metrics to investors and analysts because they present more accurately year-over-year comparisons for net earnings and net earnings per diluted share because adjusted items are not the result of normal operations. Items identified in this table should not be considered alternatives to net earnings attributable to The Kroger Co. or any other GAAP measure of performance. These items should not be reviewed in isolation or considered substitutes for the Company's financial results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Due to the nature of these items, as further described below, it is important to identify these items and to review them in conjunction with the Company's financial results reported in accordance with GAAP.

The following table summarizes items that affected the Company's financial results during the periods presented.

Table 6. Net Earnings Per Diluted Share Excluding the Adjustment Items (continued)

(in millions, except per share amounts)
(unaudited)

Table 7. Operating Profit Excluding the Adjustment Items

(in millions)
(unaudited)

The purpose of this table is to better illustrate comparable operating results from our ongoing business, after removing the effects on operating profit for certain items described below. Adjusted FIFO operating profit is a useful metric to investors and analysts because it presents more accurately year-over-year comparisons for operating profit because adjusted items are not the result of normal operations. Items identified in this table should not be considered alternatives to operating profit or any other GAAP measure of performance. These items should not be reviewed in isolation or considered substitutes for the Company's financial results as reported in accordance with GAAP. Due to the nature of these items, as further described below, it is important to identify these items and to review them in conjunction with the Company's financial results reported in accordance with GAAP.

The following table summarizes items that affected the Company's financial results during the periods presented.

Table 8. Gross Margin

(in millions, except percentages)
(unaudited)

In the Consolidated Statements of Operations within Table 1, the Company separately presents rent and depreciation and amortization to evaluate operational effectiveness. The table below calculates gross margin in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") by including a portion of rent and depreciation and amortization related to the Company's manufacturing and warehousing and transportation activities.

The following table provides the calculation of gross profit and gross margin in accordance with GAAP.