Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ: WBA) on Thursday said lower demand for COVID vaccine and tests resulted in a significant year-on-year hit to its third-quarter results. Shares are down more than 3.0% this morning.
Walgreens Q3 results
Net income printed at $289 million versus the year-ago figure of $1.197 billion
Per-share earnings of 33 cents were massively below $1.38 in Q3 of previous year
On an adjusted basis, EPS stood at 96 cents in the recent financial quarter
Sales slid 5.0% YoY on $32.6 billion, as per the earnings press release
FactSet consensus was for 92 cents of adjusted EPS on $32.06 billion in sales
Excluding tobacco, comparable retail sales in the U.S. went up 2.40%
Walgreens administered 3.9 million COVID tests and 4.7 million doses in fiscal Q3. Wall Street, on average, sees a 20% upside in the stock from here.
Walgreens future guidance
For the full financial year, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc reiterated its guidance for a low-single-digits percentage growth in its adjusted per-share earnings. This compares to the experts’ forecast for a 2.6% increase.
Earlier this week, Walgreens said it had decided to keep “Boots” following a strategic review. In the earnings press release, CEO Rosalind Brewer said:
Walgreens Health achieved 65% pro forma sales growth, already exceeding our 2022 target. With our decision to conclude the Boots strategic review, I firmly believe our strategic actions are working to deliver long-term shareholder value.
The stock is down nearly 30% from its year-to-date high.
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