Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) beat Wall Street estimates on its adjusted earnings per share and sales for the primary quarter of fiscal 12 months 2025 on Friday, whilst questions remain about its future as a public company.
The corporate reported $39.5 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 7% from the identical quarter last quarter and above Bloomberg consensus estimates of $37.3 billion. Walgreens also reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.51, in comparison with consensus estimates of $0.38 per share.
The corporate saw lower-than-expected sales of vaccines and over-the-counter flu season medicine, because the winter respiratory virus season has not been as bad as in previous years.
The stock traded higher Friday, up 27% to $11.70 per share, on the news the corporate is moving ahead with its separation of the VillageMD healthcare services business. Walgreens has pursued a shift in strategy since CEO Tim Wentworth took over in late 2023.
At close: January 10 at 4:00:01 PM EST
VillageMD has been performing poorly, leading to an operating loss for Walgreens’ books. This quarter it performed barely higher, together with the corporate’s pharmacy advantages manager, Shields. Together, they reported a lack of $325 million, in comparison with a $436 million loss within the prior period.
The corporate remains to be evaluating what to do with Recent Jersey-based Summit Health and CityMD urgent care centers, which were also a part of the VillageMD controlling stake acquisition in 2021.
The corporate has faced plenty of pressures, which spurred a round of store closures amid a troublesome retail environment. Front-of-store sales have typically been a drag on all retail pharmacies lately as customers pivot to shopping online and thru other avenues.
Wentworth highlighted some improvements in the shop experience, including a digital waiting list for prescription pick-up to assist customers avoid taking over pharmacists’ time while they are attempting to get prescriptions filled.
Wentworth said this might allow customers a likelihood to buy while they wait. In the event that they do, the purchasers will face groupings of products; for instance, some might concentrate on women’s health. It is a way of meeting customers’ needs where they’re, he said.
Walgreens remains to be within the technique of closing about 450 low-performing stores, 67 of which were closed as of the primary quarter.
“This turnaround — we have said it will take time … and we’re committed to our vision of a retail pharmacy-led organization,” Wentworth said during an earnings call Friday, noting that there’s a “level of urgency, discipline, and focus” throughout the organization.