Florida-Based Publix’s Filing Cites Economic Conditions for Its Sales Drop, and Its CEO Noted a Difficult Economic Time
Publix’s quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission says economic conditions negatively affected the company’s sales in its second quarter of 2026.
That doesn’t surprise many Florida grocery shoppers, especially with competitors like Aldi on the rise.
Even Publix’s CEO commented on the difficult economic time.
Note: This is general information, not financial advice. Company figures and dollar amounts are subject to change.
Five Quarters of Comparable-Store Sales
Publix’s comparable-store sales fell 0.5% in the second quarter of 2026, according to its 10-Q.
Total sales still rose, to $15.7 billion from $15.6 billion a year earlier, according to the same report.
So if you read that Publix’s sales dropped, the measure that fell is comparable-store sales.
The same report says sales were negatively affected by economic conditions.
Go back a year, and you find the second quarter of 2025 up 6%, according to Publix’s Aug. 1, 2025 release.
The next two quarters came in at 3.4% and 0.7%, per the company’s Nov. 3 and Mar. 2 releases.
Comparable-store sales in the first quarter of 2026 remained unchanged in Publix’s May 1 release.
Each reading after the first is lower than the one before it, which makes four straight step-downs.
Total sales growth slowed from 7.3% in the second quarter of 2025 to 2% in the first quarter of 2026.
Grocery Dive, a trade outlet, called the second quarter the fourth consecutive quarter of slowing sales growth for Publix.
Publix’s annual report for 2025 had credited that year’s comparable-store sales increase primarily to the impact of inflation on product costs.
How Publix Measures Comparable-Store Sales
Publix defines comparable-store sales as sales at supermarkets open for the same weeks in both periods, including replacement supermarkets.
Publix’s 10-Q says the increase in total sales came primarily from new supermarket sales.
Because new supermarkets fall outside that measure, you can see total sales rise while comparable-store sales fall.
The Two Stated Causes
Publix’s 10-Q, the quarterly report it files with federal regulators, names two causes for the drop in comparable-store sales.
The 10-Q says the decrease was primarily due to a Medicare drug price change and to “economic conditions impacting consumer spending.”
You’ll find that sentence under the sales heading of the 10-Q’s results of operations.
The company’s Aug. 3 release repeats the same wording.
Comparable-store sales for the first six months fell 0.3%.
The 10-Q cites the same two causes for that decline.
If you’re looking for the economy in that list, you’ll find it second, after the drug price change.
Separately, the 10-Q’s forward-looking statements section lists changes in consumer spending and changes in the general economy among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially.
Total sales for the first six months still rose 1.5%, to $31.9 billion.
The CEO’s Aug. 3 Statement
Publix chief executive Kevin Murphy gave a statement in the company’s Aug. 3 results release.
It comes after the paragraphs that report the results and the stock price.
Murphy thanked associates for their commitment to customers, communities and each other.
He added that he was especially grateful during what he described as a difficult economic time.
If you’re looking for the company’s explanation of the sales figures, that explanation is in the earlier paragraphs, not in the thank-you.
In the May 1 release for the first quarter, Murphy thanked associates for their service and for the difference they make in the communities Publix serves.
If you read that statement beside the August one, the economy is the new element.
Neither the word economy nor the word economic appears anywhere in the May 1 release.
Psst! Think you know Publix well? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Publix Money IQ
Test yourself on Publix’s stock, its sales and the drug price change. See if you can get all nine right.
Who can buy Publix stock?
The Drug Price Change
Publix's 10-Q lists the Medicare drug price change separately from consumer spending as a cause of the decline.
So when you read the 0.5% as a sign of the economy, the 10-Q gives economic conditions a share of it, not all of it.
Medicare's negotiated prices for 10 drugs took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, through its Drug Price Negotiation Program.
The Aug. 3 release calls it the Medicare maximum fair price change, which the 10-Q abbreviates as MFP.
The 10-Q says the change resulted in a decrease in sales.
It adds that the change reduces both sales and cost of sales and doesn't have a significant impact on gross profit dollars.
The 10-Q also says new supermarket sales were partially offset by pharmacy reimbursement changes effective Jan. 1, 2026.
The 10-Q doesn't split the 0.5% between the two causes, so you can't tell how much of it belongs to each cause.
Florida's Share of Stores
Publix had 889 of its 1,432 supermarkets in Florida at the end of 2025, according to its annual report.
The 10-Q describes Publix as operating 1,440 supermarkets in the southeast region of the United States as of June 27, 2026.
The Aug. 3 release lists stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky.
In the 10-Q, Florida appears only on the cover page, as Publix's state of incorporation and its headquarters address.
The sentence about economic conditions names no state at all.
The 0.5% is a companywide figure, so it can't tell you how stores in Florida did separately.
Whether you shop at a Publix in Florida or in Georgia, the 10-Q has one number for both.
5 Things Floridians Pay More For at Publix Than They Realize
A Stet News price check published in January 2026 priced the same 30-item cart in Palm Beach County, Florida, at the four chains that stocked every item.
The gap ran $46.47, from Aldi's $63.15 up to Publix's $109.62.
5 Things Floridians Pay More For at Publix Than They Realize
8 Publix Pharmacy Rules Floridians Find Out About Too Late
Under a 2018 Florida law, an oxycodone prescription for acute pain, the kind that follows a broken arm, can be capped at three days' worth of medicine.
Publix operates pharmacy counters in stores across Florida, but state and federal rules aren't Publix's to change.
