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Shoppers pay Weis Markets for everyday groceries at its Weis Markets supermarkets, with online ordering also available through Weis 2 Go Online. Packaged groceries and fresh foods generate most sales. Pharmacy services at selected stores are the next-largest business, while fuel contributes a smaller share.
The company supplies stores through its own distribution center and truck fleet, alongside deliveries from vendors and regional wholesalers. It also processes some food itself, including dairy and meat products. Its stores are concentrated in Pennsylvania and nearby markets, so the business depends on shopping demand in those regions. What it retains from sales also depends on the gap between selling prices and product costs: competing on lower prices without cheaper supplies squeezes that margin.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Village Super Market’s ShopRite and Fairway supermarkets compete with Weis for grocery shoppers in New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Watch its same-store sales for a read on grocery spending where the chains overlap.
Albertsons’ Acme and Safeway supermarkets compete with Weis for customers buying groceries and using pharmacy services in Mid-Atlantic markets.
Kroger’s supermarkets, including its Mid-Atlantic operations, compete with Weis for customers’ grocery, pharmacy and fuel spending.
Ingles Markets and Weis run similarly sized regional supermarket chains with little geographic overlap, but both depend on households’ grocery spending and store operating costs to earn their margins. Watch Ingles’ grocery sales and store costs as a comparison for the pressures facing Weis, rather than as a measure of direct competition.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. competes with Weis for price-conscious grocery shoppers across several states where Weis operates. Watch its access to discounted name-brand foods and its everyday-staple pricing for signs of the value offer Weis faces.
BJ’s Wholesale Club competes with Weis for household grocery and gasoline spending in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other eastern markets, selling through discount warehouse clubs to members who pay annual fees. Watch its grocery savings offer and member gasoline discounts for the price competition facing Weis’ supermarkets and fuel sales.
Sprouts Farmers Market competes with Weis for shoppers buying fresh foods and natural and organic groceries in overlapping Mid-Atlantic markets.
EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change (Oct/16)
US crude oil and gasoline stocks track how much oil and fuel is held in storage; tighter supply can lift the transportation, utility, petroleum-based supply and supplier costs that weigh on Weis Markets’ profit.
If stocks fall, read it as tighter oil and fuel supply that may add to Weis Markets’ operating and product costs; if they rise, supply may ease and those costs may face less upward pressure.
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. earningsSFM
Sprouts Farmers Market's report will show whether shoppers in overlapping markets are still spending on the fresh and natural and organic foods it sells against Weis.
Read Sprouts' sales alongside its margins. Steady sales without clear margin pressure would suggest demand for these foods is holding, leaving Weis less need to cut prices sharply to keep fresh and specialty-food shoppers. Weaker sales or strained margins would point to softer demand or less room on price as the two chains compete for those customers.
Weis Markets, Inc. earningsThis company
Weis Markets' report will show whether sales from its supermarkets, pharmacies and fuel can translate into profit amid price competition and labor and fuel costs.
Read sales alongside gross margin and operating income. Sales growth with a steady gross margin and no further weakening in operating income would suggest Weis is holding the line between prices and costs; sales growth with weaker margins or operating income would show that price competition, labor or fuel costs are taking more of each sales dollar. Also watch inventory figures and control remediation: past inventory errors led to restatements, so reliable inventory numbers matter to judging the reported profit.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. earningsGO
Grocery Outlet's report will show whether its discounted name-brand foods and everyday-staple prices are attracting the value-conscious shoppers it shares with Weis.
Read Grocery Outlet's sales alongside its margins. Steady sales with margins holding would suggest its discounts and everyday prices attract shoppers without a clear sacrifice in profit, easing the low-price pressure on Weis. Weaker sales or strained margins would suggest it is harder to draw price-conscious customers, or takes deeper discounts to do so, putting more pressure on Weis's grocery pricing.
JOLTs Job Openings (Sep)
Job openings track employers’ unfilled jobs, and stronger hiring competition can raise the wages and benefits Weis Markets pays its store and distribution employees.
Expected7.0MLast release7.079M
If it comes in above expectations
More openings than expected would signal a tighter labor market, potentially making it harder for Weis Markets to staff its stores and distribution operations without raising pay and benefits.
If it comes in below expectations
If the reading is below the 7.0M estimate, it is below the previous 7.079M. Fewer openings than expected would signal a looser labor market, potentially easing Weis Markets’ competition to hire store and distribution employees and the pressure to raise their pay and benefits.
Non Farm Payrolls (Oct)
The monthly jobs report tracks jobs added to the US economy, and strong hiring can intensify competition for workers and raise the wages and benefits Weis Markets pays its employees.
If jobs added increase, read it as stronger hiring competition that may push up Weis Markets’ employee costs; if they decrease, that pressure may ease.
BJs Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. earningsBJ
BJ's Wholesale Club's report will show whether its member grocery savings and gasoline discounts are drawing household spending from Weis's supermarkets and fuel sales.
Watch BJ's grocery sales and any reported indication of demand for its gasoline offer. Steady grocery sales with an attractive fuel offer would suggest its member discounts are drawing household food and fuel spending, increasing competition for Weis in both areas. Weaker demand or a less compelling offer would point to less pressure on Weis for those purchases.
Village Super Market earningsVLGEA
Village Super Market's report will show whether grocery spending is holding up or weakening in states where its supermarkets and Weis overlap.
Watch Village Super Market's same-store sales, which track sales at existing stores. Steady or rising sales would suggest grocery spending is holding up in areas the two chains share; a decline could reflect weaker local spending or tougher competition for shoppers, pressures Weis also faces there. It is a regional read, not a substitute for Weis's own results.
