In this articleWBAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTA person rides past a Walgreens truck, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 26, 2021. Andrew Kelly | ReutersWalgreens on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter sales that beat Wall Street’s expectations, but lowered the high end of its full-year adjusted earnings outlook in part due to a “challenging” retail environment in the U.S.The company also posted a steep net loss for the quarter as it recorded a hefty goodwill impairment charge of nearly $6 billion related to its primary-care provider VillageMD. Walgreens has been closing dozens of VillageMD clinics amid financial woes and sees the business as critical to its ongoing push to transform from a major drugstore chain to a large health-care company. The results come as Walgreens’ new CEO, Tim Wentworth, works to slash costs and steer the company out of a rough spot. Shares of Walgreens fell 30% last year as the company faced weakening demand for Covid products, low pharmacy reimbursement rates, an unsteady push into health care and a challenging macroeconomic environment. In a release on Thursday, the company said it is confident it will meet its goal of saving $1 billion during fiscal 2024 through its ongoing cost-cutting program. Walgreens has laid off employees, closed unprofitable stores and used artificial intelligence to make its supply chain more efficient, among other efforts.Here’s what Walgreens reported for the quarter:Earnings per share: $1.20 adjusted, it was not immediately clear if it compared to the 82 cents expected by Wall Street, based on a survey of analysts by LSEGRevenue: $37.05 billion vs. $35.86 billion expectedWalgreens narrowed its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to $3.20 to $3.35 per share. That compares to the company’s previous outlook of $3.20 to $3.50 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year adjusted earnings of $3.24 per share.Walgreens said the new guidance reflects the hurdles facing retailers in the U.S. and an early wind-down of sales-leaseback programs. It also takes into account lower earnings due to Walgreens’ forward sale of shares of drug distributor Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen.The company said a stronger performance in its pharmacy services segment and a lower adjusted effective tax rate helped to offset the factors dragging on its earnings. The company did not give a new revenue forecast for the fiscal year. Walgreens has not provided that guidance since October, when it said it sees $141 billion to $145 billion in sales. The company reported a net loss of $5.91 billion, or $6.85 per share, for the quarter. That compares with a net income of $703 million, or 81 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share were $1.20 for the quarter. Walgreens said its fiscal second-quarter results include a $5.8 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to VillageMD. The company booked sales of $37.05 billion in the quarter, a roughly 6% jump from the same period a year ago. Walgreens sees growth across all divisionsThe company said that increase reflects sales growth across its three business segments. But Walgreens’ U.S. health-care division stood out as sales jumped about 33% in the fiscal second quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Revenue for the segment came in at $2.18 billion. The company said the higher sales reflect …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnIn this articleWBAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNTA person rides past a Walgreens truck, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 26, 2021. Andrew Kelly | ReutersWalgreens on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter sales that beat Wall Street’s expectations, but lowered the high end of its full-year adjusted earnings outlook in part due to a “challenging” retail environment in the U.S.The company also posted a steep net loss for the quarter as it recorded a hefty goodwill impairment charge of nearly $6 billion related to its primary-care provider VillageMD. Walgreens has been closing dozens of VillageMD clinics amid financial woes and sees the business as critical to its ongoing push to transform from a major drugstore chain to a large health-care company. The results come as Walgreens’ new CEO, Tim Wentworth, works to slash costs and steer the company out of a rough spot. Shares of Walgreens fell 30% last year as the company faced weakening demand for Covid products, low pharmacy reimbursement rates, an unsteady push into health care and a challenging macroeconomic environment. In a release on Thursday, the company said it is confident it will meet its goal of saving $1 billion during fiscal 2024 through its ongoing cost-cutting program. Walgreens has laid off employees, closed unprofitable stores and used artificial intelligence to make its supply chain more efficient, among other efforts.Here’s what Walgreens reported for the quarter:Earnings per share: $1.20 adjusted, it was not immediately clear if it compared to the 82 cents expected by Wall Street, based on a survey of analysts by LSEGRevenue: $37.05 billion vs. $35.86 billion expectedWalgreens narrowed its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings guidance to $3.20 to $3.35 per share. That compares to the company’s previous outlook of $3.20 to $3.50 per share. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year adjusted earnings of $3.24 per share.Walgreens said the new guidance reflects the hurdles facing retailers in the U.S. and an early wind-down of sales-leaseback programs. It also takes into account lower earnings due to Walgreens’ forward sale of shares of drug distributor Cencora, formerly known as AmerisourceBergen.The company said a stronger performance in its pharmacy services segment and a lower adjusted effective tax rate helped to offset the factors dragging on its earnings. The company did not give a new revenue forecast for the fiscal year. Walgreens has not provided that guidance since October, when it said it sees $141 billion to $145 billion in sales. The company reported a net loss of $5.91 billion, or $6.85 per share, for the quarter. That compares with a net income of $703 million, or 81 cents per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share were $1.20 for the quarter. Walgreens said its fiscal second-quarter results include a $5.8 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to VillageMD. The company booked sales of $37.05 billion in the quarter, a roughly 6% jump from the same period a year ago. Walgreens sees growth across all divisionsThe company said that increase reflects sales growth across its three business segments. But Walgreens’ U.S. health-care division stood out as sales jumped about 33% in the fiscal second quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Revenue for the segment came in at $2.18 billion. The company said the higher sales reflect …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
