Why Walgreens Q3 Earnings Weren't Bad

Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ: WBA) reported third-quarter earnings last week, and investors were down on the results. The stock fell to a new 52-week low as the company's sales and profits declined from the previous year. While that isn't great news to hear, there's more to the story. Let's dig in.

For the period ended May 31, revenue declined 4.2% year over year to $32.6 billion. But a big part of that is due to its pharmacy sales in the U.S., which were down 9.7% during the period. The company's comparable retail revenue in the U.S. rose by 2.4% when excluding tobacco. And internationally, sales grew slightly by 0.3% year over year to $5.3 billion.

Overall, the company's top line was better than the $32.06 billion that analysts were expecting. It was by no means catastrophic, especially given that in prior periods the healthcare company received significant boosts in traffic due to COVID-19 vaccinations. Although it's still administering these shots, Walgreens notes that vaccine volumes hit their peak a year ago.

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Source Fool.com