Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares rose 2.5% in Thursday premarket trading after the pharmacy retailer reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and sales that beat expectations. Net income totaled $627 million, or 72 cents per share, up from $373 million, or 43 cents per share, last year. Adjusted EPS of $1.17 beat the FactSet consensus for $1.02. Sales of $34.26 billion rose from $30.37 billion and were also ahead of the FactSet consensus for $33.03 billion. U.S. comparable pharmacy sales rose 8.1% while Boots UK comparable pharmacy sales were up 11.4%. U.S. comparable retail sales increased 8.9% while Boots UK comparable retail sales rose 15%. Walgreens provided 13.5 million COVID-19 vaccinations in the quarter, and 34.6 million for the entire fiscal year. Walgreens has a virtual investor conference taking place on Thursday. Walgreens stock has gained 18.5% for the year to date, outpacing the S&P 500 index , which is up 16.2% for the period.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
