Whole Foods Markets (WFM)

[Rodney213]

All luck indeed

[DewDiligence]

There isn't going to be a competing bid, IMO. WFM agreed to be bought by AMZN because AMZN committed to keeping John Mackey and the other top-level managers who have been running WFM for the past 30+ years.

Another suitor, such as a private-equity firm, would be unlikely to have any use for Mackey and his sidekicks, which means a counter-offer would have to go hostile in order to succeed.

Moreover, the AMZN-WFM deal has a "no shop" clause (i.e. WFM cannot seek another offer) and a steep breakup fee payable by WFM if they were to accept an unsolicited offer from a third party.

Bottom line: If you can get $42/sh or slightly more, take it.

[lyallian]

So reading link below on the PI blog site; wouldn't it make sense for WMT to wade in and take it out $50/s? Thoughts
http://www.proactiveinvestors.com/companies/news/179402/panic-in-the-aisles-grocery-stocks-tank-as-amazon-gets-physical-with-us13bn-whole-foods-takeover-179402.html

[TRADEdeez]

Aren't milk prices regulated by the government? Anyway I'm with u. Everything I go to the store I spend $100 easy for almost nothing. I'm lookin foward to this. It's HUGE!

[$Pistol Pete$]

Agreed

[pennystockaholic]

This acquisition is huge. In a couples years they will dominate the food industry. Only one that can compete with them is Costco. Food will become cheaper No more $5 for a gallon of milk lol

[swampboots]

OT:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/when-exactly-does-amazon-become-a-monopoly/530616/

[lucky, mydog]

some folks are anticipating a bidding war. not going to happen.

[KICK1]

Yessir! Looks great!

[$Pistol Pete$]

Looks good so far and I think $50 is on the deck and that's what I betting

[KICK1]

Cool!

[puravida]

my take is that the surge through 40.50 suggests that there is some chatter of another offer. One hypothesis is that counter offers come into play and go public solely to force amazon to pay more thus taking on more risk. I speculate competitors are thinking counter offers on the grounds of attempting to keep amazon out of the play (which won't work). Amazon hasn't been stopped yet. apparently WFM agreed to a non-shop clause with amazon...receiving other offers and deals comes at a 400 million penalty

[~MulaGreen~]

Some SHORTPIGS GOING BK here TODAY.

[~MulaGreen~]

My Mooolllaaahhh now ^ 00.66 Ready for Banking!!!! Yum Yum Friday!!!

[$Pistol Pete$]

$WFM Amazon to acquire organic supermarket chain Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion WFM



https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/16/amazon-to-acquire-whole-foods-market-for-13-7-billion/

[~MulaGreen~]

DAMN IDIOTWHOSHORTED IT and HELD OVERNITE!!OUCH!!1K X10 = 100K LOSS.BAMM

[$Pistol Pete$]

As of now, I am still reading and collect all the information

[$Pistol Pete$]

Thank you

[north40000]

Do you have an educated opinion why WFM is trading at greater than AMZN's price of $42/ share?

I am tempted to accrue more dollars than $42/share by selling our shares into the current market...$42.27...$42.31

Any noise you hear about a higher offer in the offing? Do current shareholders think AMZN's offer is too low, and will vote no on the current M&A proposal?

Is Amazon's next move to insert pharmacies in each of the >400 WFM stores?

[$Pistol Pete$]

$WFM Daily and Weekly Ichimoku Chart





http://www.investopedia.com/walkthrough/forex/advanced/level7/ichimoku-cloud.aspx

[-NightTrain-]

Congrats to those who got in early!

[$Pistol Pete$]

$WFM Amazon to Buy Whole Foods for $13.7 Billion -- 4th Update

Source: Dow Jones News
By Austen Hufford and Annie Gasparro
Amazon.com Inc. said it would buy Whole Foods Market Inc. for $13.7 billion as the giant internet retailer makes a deeper push into the grocery space.

Amazon will pay $42 a share for Whole Foods, valuing the grocer at a 27% premium to its closing price Thursday. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

In recent years, Amazon has expanded its online grocery business, AmazonFresh, after testing it in its hometown Seattle for years. Earlier this year, the company said it would launch a new grocery-store pickup service.

While grocery accounts for a large component of consumer sales overall, online retailers have largely been unable to fully crack the code. They face hurdles like consumers wanting to pick their own produce and the need to deliver perishable, fresh and frozen food to people's homes.

Adding a network of grocery stores could help Amazon tackle those issues. Whole Foods has roughly 450 locations spread out across 42 states. The move could allow Amazon to reach customers closer to their homes and even sell more than just groceries. Amazon's bookstores also sell its electronic products like book readers, tablets and media streaming devices.

Amazon's move tanked the stocks of grocery competitors as investors worried that Amazon could do to grocery the same as it did to booksellers. Kroger Co. shares fell 14%, Target Corp. shares fell 12%, Supervalu Inc. shares fell 19%, Costco Wholesale Corp. shares fell 6.2% and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares dropped 5.8%.

Amazon's newfound foothold in brick-and-mortar grocery comes at a time when the grocery industry is already reeling from competition, with discounters like Aldi expanding in the U.S. and more customers shopping for groceries online.

Amazon has been inching into Kroger Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s territory in recent years at a rapid rate. Americans' shopping trips online have risen 6.8% over the past year, compared with a 0.5% increase in overall grocery trips, according to Nielsen.

Amazon's low prices have partly forced rival grocers to sharpen their deals in return. Kroger on Thursday said traditional grocers are competing for the $1.5 trillion Americans spend on food -- whether that is a fast-food restaurant, convenience store or online. "We have to redefine the market as share of stomach," Kroger Chief Rodney McMullen told investors Thursday. Kroger, which lowered its earnings forecast for the year, set off a wave of declines in grocery stocks, with its shares falling 19%.

David Ciancio, a senior customer strategist for Dunnhumby and former Kroger executive, said "this is the most difficult time I've seen for the industry, and I've been in it 47 years."

Whole Foods has also faced some unique struggles as traditional grocers expand their natural and organic offerings that have been the mainstay of the company.

Activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, the company's second-largest shareholder with a roughly 7% stake, and mutual-fund giant Neuberger Berman, which owns 2.7% of the stock have been pressing Whole Foods to consider a sale and add directors with experience in retail operations, technology, finance and real estate.

Shares of Amazon rose 2.9% to $992.43 in early trading, and Whole Foods shares were temporarily halted on the news.

John Mackey will remain as chief executive of Whole Foods and the store will continue to operate under its brand and maintain its suppliers.

Whole Foods' stock has lost nearly half of its value since peaking in 2013, as its same-store-sales have persistently fallen since September 2015.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail] and Annie Gasparro at [e-mail]


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 16, 2017 10:03 ET (14:03 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

[~MulaGreen~]

Bald MoneyMan!!!Word of the day is ...WOWWWW!!!

[~MulaGreen~]

BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!Kungrat$ to All Who Believed.I'm No Shareholder of WFM.

[DewDiligence]

Thank you. It's long been a misconception (IMO) that Trader Joe's was a direct competitor of WFM. I spoke to this point in #msg-125655533. Regards, Dew

[swampboots]

Wow and congrads: Thought WFM was in for a plight, with some European foodies coming to attack ala Trader Joe's ( no relation), where they lowered food cost by 25-35% with some IKEA thingies in a report I heard from Bloomberg some weeks ago on the radio. Now Bezos will mix and match this entity into his trillion dollar grab and bag routine, albeit for him, all the world is a SUPERMARKET!!!

[U GOT TRUMPED]

Wow nice Amazon is smart

[north40000]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-to-buy-whole-foods-for-13-7-billion-1497618446?mod=djemalertNEWS

"Amazon . AMZN +3.25% com Inc. said it would buy Whole Foods Market WFM +26.69% Inc. for $13.7 billion as the giant internet retailer makes a deeper push into the grocery space.

Amazon will pay $42 a share for Whole Foods, valuing the grocer at a 27% premium to its closing price Thursday. The deal is by far the largest in Amazon’s history, and it is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Amazon has worked for years to build its Fresh grocery delivery business, but its share of the market is just a sliver. The Seattle-based online retail giant has recently tested brick-and-mortar grocery concepts, including two AmazonFresh Pick Up locations in its hometown, as it works to grab a bigger piece of the more than $600 billion edible food consumer spending category.

Still, at first glance, the two don’t seem to be a match. Amazon is known as a low-price leader, while Whole Foods is more of a premium offering. The company culture, strong brand loyalty, and its network of grocery stores was likely a draw.

While grocery accounts for a large component of consumer sales overall, online retailers have largely been unable to fully crack the code. They face hurdles like consumers wanting to pick their own produce and the need to deliver perishable, fresh and frozen food to people’s homes.

Whole Foods has roughly 450 locations spread out across 42 states. The move could allow Amazon to reach customers closer to their homes and even sell more than just groceries. Amazon’s bookstores also sell its electronic products like book readers, tablets and media streaming devices.


Amazon’s move tanked the stocks of grocery competitors as investors worried that Amazon could do to grocery the same as it did to booksellers. Kroger Co. shares fell 14%, Target Corp. shares fell 12%, Supervalu Inc. shares fell 19%, Costco Wholesale Corp. shares fell 6.2% and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares dropped 5.8%.

Amazon’s newfound foothold in brick-and-mortar grocery comes at a time when the grocery industry is already reeling from competition, with discounters like Aldi expanding in the U.S. and more customers shopping for groceries online.

Amazon has been inching into Kroger Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s territory in recent years at a rapid rate. Americans’ shopping trips online have risen 6.8% over the past year, compared with a 0.5% increase in overall grocery trips, according to Nielsen.

Online grocery shopping accounted for 2% of sales in the sector last year, according to Kantar Retail. Before the Amazon deal announcement, the share was projected to grow to 3% by 2021.

Amazon’s low prices have partly forced rival grocers to sharpen their deals in return. Kroger on Thursday said traditional grocers are competing for the $1.5 trillion Americans spend on food—whether that is a fast-food restaurant, convenience store or online. “We have to redefine the market as share of stomach,” Kroger Chief Rodney McMullen told investors Thursday. Kroger, which lowered its earnings forecast for the year, set off a wave of declines in grocery stocks, with its shares falling 19%.

EARLIER

Whole Foods Aimed to Be More Than a Supermarket (April 12)
Whole Foods Overhauls Board(May 10)
David Ciancio, a senior customer strategist for Dunnhumby and former Kroger executive, said “this is the most difficult time I’ve seen for the industry, and I’ve been in it 47 years.”

Whole Foods has also faced some unique struggles as traditional grocers expand their natural and organic offerings that have been the mainstay of the company.

Activist hedge fund Jana Partners LLC, the company’s second-largest shareholder with a roughly 7% stake, and mutual-fund giant Neuberger Berman, which owns 2.7% of the stock have been pressing Whole Foods to consider a sale and add directors with experience in retail operations, technology, finance and real estate.

Shares of Amazon rose 2.9% to $992.43 in early trading, while Whole Foods shares ramped up 27% to $41.99, just below the deal price.

John Mackey will remain as chief executive of Whole Foods and the store will continue to operate under its brand and maintain its suppliers.

Whole Foods’ stock has lost nearly half of its value since peaking in 2013, as its same-store-sales have persistently fallen since September 2015.

Write to Austen Hufford at [e-mail], Annie Gasparro at [e-mail] and Laura Stevens at [e-mail]"

[north40000]

Trading > $ 42/share.... contemplated bidding war, but who would out-bid AMZN?
Shs might regard $42/share as too cheap, WFM sold for more/share 2-3 years ago.

[north40000]

Still halted real time. We bought WFM shares in 2010 @ $17.37

[otc1investor]

FRIDAY'S CALL BUY WFM IN TALKS TO BE TAKENOVER!!!

[DewDiligence]

AMZN acquires WFM for $42/sh in cash:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-acquire-whole-foods-market-130000030.html

Amazon (AMZN) and Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire Whole Foods Market for $42 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $13.7 billion, including Whole Foods Market’s net debt.

…Whole Foods Market will continue to operate stores under the Whole Foods Market brand and source from trusted vendors and partners around the world. John Mackey will remain as CEO of Whole Foods Market and Whole Foods Market’s headquarters will stay in Austin, Texas.

Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Whole Foods Market's shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The parties expect to close the transaction during the second half of 2017.

[DewDiligence]

Well, things worked out well, although not exactly as I thought in #msg-118338807.

[WorstLuck]

Congrats to the longs!

[HMONNY]

Trade halted! WOW those options!!! Amazing deal!

[north40000]

SFM, Kroger, WMT, TGT share prices immediately decline pre-market on news; $13.7 billion market value for WFM results from AMZN BO.

[risk on]

Or, it pays to be lucky, congrats

[davidsson10]

In @ $29, out @ $42. It pays to invest where you shop. More people should walk their talk.

[north40000]

Amazon buys WFM. $42/share

[DewDiligence]

KR—(-19% on lowered guidance)—takes down entire grocery industry:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/kroger-shares-slide-as-grocer-is-battered-by-price-fight-1497531764

Traditional U.S. grocers came under fresh pressure on Thursday after the biggest one, Kroger Co., said intensifying competition would further cut into earnings this year.

Kroger’s shares fell 18%, on track for their steepest one-day drop in more than 17 years, as the company reported lower sales at longstanding stores for the second straight quarter and cut its earnings outlook. Shares in other big food retailers also fell on the news.

[DewDiligence]

CEO’s shouldn’t insult activist investors (WSJ):

https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2017/06/15/ceos-insulting-activist-investors-typically-doesnt-turn-out-well-for-them/

Note to Whole Foods Market Inc.’s CEO: It’s rarely a winning strategy to insult your second-largest shareholder, even if they are activists trying to shake up your company.

Whole Foods Chief Executive John Mackey made headlines Wednesday for calling activist investor Jana Partners LLC “greedy bastards,” who only want to profit from a sale of the slumping grocery retailer.

…Comments like Mr. Mackey’s have not always turned out well for chief executives trying to keep an activist investor at bay. Executives at aerospace-parts maker Arconic, design-software company Autodesk and auction house Sotheby’s took a tact similar to Mackey’s and all soon found themselves on the outside looking in.

[DewDiligence]

Mackey should keep his mouth shut, IMO (eom).

[davidsson10]

http://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/shelf-life-john-mackey/

[tedkov]

SHAREHOLDER LAWSUIT - DEADLINE TO JOIN

NEW YORK - A federal appeals court on Friday ordered Whole Foods Market Inc to face a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing it of overcharging shoppers in New York City by overstating the weight of pre-packaged food in its supermarkets.

if you are a shareholder who has owned Whole Foods stock since 2014 and still own some of those shares you may be eligible to participate in a shareholder lawsuit to potentially recover monies for your shares at no cost or expense. If you would like further information please contact the law firm handling the matter at 800.511.7037 or email at [e-mail] Shareholders have until June 9, 2017 to notify law firm

[DewDiligence]

Jana adds fifth BoD nominee in potential proxy fight—from 13D/A filing today:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/865436/000090266417002493/p17-1277sc13da.htm

On May 27, 2017, JANA entered into a nominee agreement with Celeste A. Clark, Ph.D. ("Dr. Clark") substantially in the form attached as Exhibit B to the Schedule 13D filed by JANA with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 10, 2017 and incorporated by reference herein.

The principal business of Dr. Clark is consulting on nutrition, health policy, regulatory matters and leadership after previously serving as Senior Vice President of Global Public Policy and External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer of Kellogg Company. Dr. Clark currently serves on the boards of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company and AdvancePierre Foods.

JANA and affiliates now own 27.6M shares (an 8.7% equity stake) at an average cost of $30.45—essentially unchanged from the previous 13D filing on 4/10/17.

[U GOT TRUMPED]

I will keep a small position here but i dont see any huge move coming, i was hoping for this t have made the move over 40 by now anticipating a deal around 45 ish but it looks like it may be a bit before anything like that.

[giveit2me]

i would like WFM to prosper and get stronger by the minute, on its own. here's my observations... i stayed within 5 min walk of WFM in Beverly Hills. yet i drove every day to Playa Vista's store, because the one in Beverly Hills made me sad. i don't know what the fuss in Venice is all about, but i didn't like that one either. the one that is close to the beach in Santa Monica was no different also... in Houston, the one closer to River Oaks CC was no good either. i didn't like the one in Katy. every time i'm in South Beach, i have to finish my grocery shopping by 2:30pm, because after that the store looks like it just being looted. the average blame was on the delivery truck, which was either on fire, or had a mechanical issue. in New Jersey, i forgot the exact location, but there's a WFM inside a mall. brilliant idea, but a pizza slice will cost you TWELVE DOLLARS!! in New Orleans i had mixed feelings... Memphis, just an average supermarket. i will have to give the gold medal to the store in Chicago, the one on the river, on Kingsbury street. absolute magnificent location and execution, my vocabulary is poor to describe this store. i felt like i'm watching a fashion show, and at the same time, shopping for groceries, there's restaurants inside, wine bar, beer bar, there was a band performing one time i was there... you can enjoy the river view, or walk across the street and enjoy other stuff. all the people working there were so nice and cool, it looked like they owned the store. i can guarantee, that if all WFM stores are like the Chicago store, or at least like the one in Playa Vista, the other supermarket chains will go bankrupt. i'd rather shop in the worst WFM store in the world, than in any gmo grocery store. i hope my story helps the management a little. i hold no position in WFM

[U GOT TRUMPED]

BOOM . i would just like to say, sometimes you just know when a company will not fail ,, whole foods value in the name alone is worth a ton they are part of the new generation aware of processed garbage and want a clean diet and whole food setting . The processed food generation is under attack by plant base whole foods. I am estimating over the next 20 years, we will see huge changes to grocery industry. Ill hold on for some whole food gains long term

[StockSleuth]

Its about time they got a new board!

[DewDiligence]

WFM is on the cover of tomorrow’s WSJ:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/whole-foods-plans-to-change-more-than-half-of-board-of-directors-1494437382