BUZZ-Ahold Delhaize drops after U.S. margin miss, in-line guidance

Shares in Ahold Delhaize AD.AS drop around 5% after the supermarket group reported lower-than-expected U.S. margin and announced what analysts describe as "in line" outlook

Q4 EBIT in the U.S. came in at 584 million euros, while analysts expected 602 million euros, according to a company-compiled consensus

Jefferies says the 2025 outlook of EBIT margin at about 4% is broadly as expected vs consensus at 4%

Degroof Petercam notes that with U.S. margin miss coupled with an in-line outlook, they expect the results "not to be good enough" to move the stock up

J.P.Morgan also notes U.S. margin pressure and says there were "no major surprises" in 2025 outlook

Still, JPM says that there was "a somewhat higher expectation implied within the current set up" and with shares up around 15% YTD it expects some profit taking in the short term