Kroger’s Stock In Focus After CFO Appointment: Retail’s Bullish

Shares of the supermarket chain Kroger Co. ($KR) rose more than 1% on Wednesday after the company named Pepsi’s David Kennerley as its new CFO, with retail sentiment turning bullish.

Kroger said Kennerley, currently senior vice president and CFO for PepsiCo Europe, will succeed its interim CFO Todd Foley. Kennerley will join as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective April 3.

Foley will continue as interim CFO through the end of Kroger's fiscal year 2024 reporting cycle and remain a senior vice president of the company and continue to serve on the senior leadership team to support the company during this transition period until the end of Kroger's first quarter, according to a company statement.

Sentiment on Stocktwits was ’bullish’ compared with ‘extremely bullish’ a week ago. Message volumes were in the ‘low’ zone compared to ‘high’ last week.

"Consistent with Kroger's history of thoughtful succession planning, David and Todd will transition seamlessly to ensure Kroger continues to deliver on its go-to-market strategy, providing access to fresh, affordable food for families across America and, by doing so, creating long term shareholder value," said Rodney McMullen, Kroger's chairman and CEO.

"On behalf of our board of directors and senior management team, we thank Todd for stepping into the interim CFO role last year and ensuring the business did not skip a beat," added, McMullen.

Kroger stock is up 7.6% year-to-date.

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