Walgreens beats expectations with sales growth, plans to close stores

From CNBC: 2024-10-15 07:35:00

Walgreens beat Wall Street’s expectations for fourth-quarter sales and profit, announcing plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years. The company saw a 6% increase in sales, reporting a net loss of $3 billion for the quarter. Walgreens anticipates adjusted earnings per share of $1.40 to $1.80 for fiscal 2025.

In the fourth quarter, Walgreens reported growth across its U.S. health-care, U.S. retail pharmacy, and international units. The U.S. health-care unit’s sales increased by 7.1%, driven by growth in VillageMD and Shields Health Solutions. Walgreens saw a 6.5% increase in sales from its U.S. retail pharmacy segment, with pharmacy sales rising by 9.6%.

The company’s international unit, with over 3,000 retail stores, posted $5.97 billion in sales for the quarter. Boots, the U.K.-based drugstore chain, saw a 2.3% increase in sales. Walgreens reported total prescriptions filled including vaccines at 302 million, up 1.7% from the same period last year. Retail sales fell by 3.5%, with a decline in comparable retail sales by 1.7%.



Read more at CNBC:: Walgreens (WBA) earnings Q4 2024