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Fiscal second-quarter earnings at Walgreens beat Wall Street expectations.
Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images
Walgreens Boots Alliance
shares were rising in premarket trading Tuesday after the retail pharmacy chain reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat expectations and maintained profit guidance.
Walgreens (ticker: WBA) posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.16 a share, lower than the $1.59 a share recorded a year ago, but higher than analysts’ expectations of $1.10 a share.
Sales in the period were $34.9 billion, rising from a year ago and beating analysts’ expectations of $33.5 billion. Within its business segments for the quarter, U.S. retail pharmacy sales were down from a year ago, while international sales and U.S. healthcare sales rose.
The U.S. healthcare segment was aided by Walgreens’ $3.5 billion investment to support primary care provider VillageMD’s purchase of Summit Health—the parent company of CityMD urgent-care centers —in a deal that closed in January.
“Their investment in primary care and other health services looks like an attractive alternative to improve profitability and reduce their reliance on the payers directing patients to them,” according to analyst Shoggi Ezeizat of research firm Third Bridge.
Walgreens maintained fiscal 2023 adjusted earnings per share guidance of $4.45 to $4.65 a share “as strong core business growth is more than offset by lapping peak Covid-19 demand.”
“WBA exited a solid second quarter with acceleration in February, adding to our confidence in driving strong growth in the second half of the year,” said Chief Executive…
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