Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA)
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. stock slipped 2.5% to $70.51 in premarket trading on Thursday after the company posted downbeat sales for its fiscal fourth quarter. The stock has been essentially flat since the beginning of the year.
Overall, profit jumped 89% to $1.51 billion, or $1.55 per share, from the fourth quarter of the previous year. The company attributed the jump in prescriptions filled from its Rite Aid acquisition and central specialty, which recorded sales growth of 0.3% from the earlier-year quarter.
WBA Earnings & Outlook
The company reported earnings of $1.51 billion, or $1.55 per share, up from $802 million, or $0.76 per share in the year-ago quarter. After stripping out special items, adjusted earnings were $1.48 per share during the quarter.
Revenue came in at $33.44 billion, compared with $30.15 billion in the same period last year. Refinitiv, based on analyst estimates, expected the company to report adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share on revenue of $33.78 billion.
U.S. retail pharmacy sales came in at $25.5 billion during the quarter, an increase of 14.4% from the previous year, but below the estimates of $25.6 billion. Pharmaceutical wholesale sales were $5.6 billion, up 2.3% from the earlier-year quarter, but below $5.8 billion expectations.
Looking ahead, Walgreens Boots Alliance expects adjusted earnings of $6.40 to $6.70 per share for the full year. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $6.43 per share.
Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Comments
Stefano Pessina, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, commented, “We are pleased to have delivered double digit percentage growth in earnings per share while returning $6.8 billion to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends in fiscal 2018. The integration of the acquired Rite Aid stores is on track, and our pharmacy market share in the U.S. increased year-over-year on an annual basis. We are making progress on our partnership strategy both in the U.S. and internationally, including our most recent announcements with LabCorp, Kroger and Alibaba, which will provide additional opportunities for future growth.”
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. Company Profile
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. engages in providing drug store services. The company operates through the following segments: Retail Pharmacy USA, Retail Pharmacy International, and Pharmaceutical Wholesale. The Retail Pharmacy USA segment engages in pharmacy-led health and beauty retail businesses, which sells its products under brand names Walgreens and Duane Reade.
The Retail Pharmacy International segment offers retail stores, which sells products of brands No7, Boots Pharmaceuticals, Botanics, Liz Earle, and Soap & Glory.
The Pharmaceutical Wholesale segment supplies medicines, other healthcare products and related services to pharmacies, doctors, health centers, and hospitals. The company was founded in 1901 and is headquartered in Deerfield, IL. – CNN Money
