Albertsons recently released its 10-K report, showing a business built around U.S. food and drug retailing, with stores that sell groceries, general merchandise, health and beauty care products, pharmacy items, fuel and related services. The company also processes and manufactures food products for sale in its stores, and operates under banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Market Street, Haggen, Kings Food Markets and Balducci’s Food Lovers Market. As of February 28, 2026, Albertsons said it operated 2,244 stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia.
In Item 1A, Albertsons said its information security, cybersecurity, data privacy and artificial intelligence risks could affect operations, financial results and customer trust. The company said it collects, stores and uses large volumes of customer, employee, vendor and business data, including payment information, loyalty data, pharmacy records and other sensitive information, which increases exposure to cyberattacks, unauthorized access, ransomware, phishing, malware and system failures.
Albertsons said a successful cyber incident could disrupt store operations, e-commerce, pharmacy services, supply chain systems, payment processing and internal communications. It also said such an event could lead to remediation costs, legal claims, regulatory investigations, fines, reputational damage and lost sales.
The company noted that its business depends on third-party vendors, service providers and cloud-based systems, which can expand cybersecurity and privacy exposure. It said failures by vendors to maintain adequate controls, or breaches involving vendor systems, could still affect Albertsons even if the company’s own systems were not directly compromised.
On data privacy, Albertsons said it is subject to a range of laws and regulations governing the collection, use, retention, sharing and protection of personal information. It said compliance obligations can be costly and that changes in privacy laws, enforcement actions or consumer expectations could require changes to its systems and practices.
Albertsons also flagged artificial intelligence technologies as a risk area. The company said it is using AI in areas such as customer experience, personalization, supply chain forecasting and operational efficiency, but that AI tools can produce inaccurate, biased or inappropriate outputs, create intellectual property or privacy issues, and introduce new security and governance risks.
The company said failures to manage AI-related risks could lead to customer dissatisfaction, regulatory scrutiny, reputational harm and operational errors. It also said its AI initiatives depend on the quality of data, model oversight and controls, and that weaknesses in any of those areas could reduce the expected benefits of the technology.
Albertsons said it continues to invest in cybersecurity defenses, privacy controls, employee training and monitoring systems, but acknowledged that these measures may not fully prevent incidents or losses. As a result of these announcements, the company's shares have moved -1.42% on the market, and are now trading at a price of $16.62. Check out the company's full 10-K submission here.
