There has been a whole lotta shakin' goin' on at Whole Foods lately. And not in a good way.
Investors have shunned the stock ... and shoppers don't seem to be making as many trips to the organic grocery chain either.
But the worst may be over.
Whole Foods reported results for the last three months of 2015 -- the company's fiscal first quarter -- after the closing bell on Wednesday that topped gloomy forecasts.
The company also raised its earnings outlook for the full year.
"We believe we will deliver strong returns to shareholders over the long term as we improve our price perception, better communicate our higher quality standards and differentiation, and continue to fundamentally evolve our business," said Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb in the earnings release.
The stock didn't react much in after hours trading.
But shares of Whole Foods (WFM) are down 45% over the past 12 months. The company has found it difficult to shake off that Whole Paycheck reputation -- the perception that its products are way overpriced.
Whole Foods no longer has the natural market to itself. It faces tough competition from much bigger retailers such as Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Costco (COST) and supermarket chain Kroger (KR) as well as organic rivals like Trader Joe's, Sprouts (SFM) and Fresh Market (TFM).
Making matters worse, the company's image was damaged last year following a slew of negative publicity.
Whole Foods was accused of overcharging customers for prepackaged items in New York City. The company eventually apologized and settled with regulators in the Big Apple. But sales took a big hit as a result of the allegations.
It didn't help that Whole Foods had to deal with all this negative baggage (paper not plastic please!) last year.
A listeria scare: Whole Foods recalled blue cheese and various salad bar items in two separate incidents last October.
A cheap labor scandal: Whole Foods decided to stop selling products made from a supplier that used inmate workers after an activist pointed out how poorly the prisoners were being paid.
Asparagus water: An employee at a Whole Foods store near L.A. mistakenly put 3 sticks of asparagus in 16-ounce bottles of water ... and slapped a $5.99 price tag on them. HBO's John Oliver had a field day with this. (CNN and HBO are corporate cousins.)
So investors are hoping that Whole Foods can put all this aside them. It needs to be known again as the place to go for quality boneless pork butt ... and not as the butt of jokes from late night comedians...
