Whole Foods Munches Estimates

Whole Foods has opened 18 new stores in the last year, and it plans to continue its build-out through next year. Mackey said he doesn't expect the same year-over-year increase in the company's total pre-opening expenses.

"We are very excited to see the acceleration in our new store openings materialize as we expect these new stores to drive strong sales and comparable store sales growth in the not-so-distant future," he said.

Capital expenditures for the year are expected to be in the range of $525 million to $575 million, of which about 70% to 75% is related to new store openings. Mackey stuck to his guidance for the year, with total sales expected to grow 13% to 17% and same-store sales to grow 6% to 8%.

The earnings report comes on the first day of a two-day hearing to evaluate the Federal Trade Commission's challenge to Whole Foods' plan to buy its competitor, Wild Oats(OATS Quote). The FTC maintains that both Whole Foods and Wild Oats are two of the biggest competitors in the organic and natural foods sector and combining them will result in price hikes and diminished services.

Whole Foods and Wild Oats claim that enough traditional supermarkets, like Safeway(SWY Quote) and Kroger(KR Quote), have moved into organic and natural foods that there is no risk of a monopoly.