Rite Aid's Stock Drops After Same-store Sales Miss, Lowered Profit Outlook

Rite Aid Corp.'s stock dropped 4.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the drugstore chain missed fiscal first-quarter same-store sales expectations, and lowered its full-year profit outlook. For the quarter ended May 30, earnings fell to $18.8 million, or 2 cents a share, from $41.4 million, or 4 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Earnings per share were reduced by 2 cents by one-time acquisition-related costs. Revenue rose to $6.65 billion from $6.47 billion. The FactSet consensus estimates were EPS of 3 cents and revenue of $6.6 billion. Same-store sales rose 2.9%, missing the FactSet consensus of 3.6% growth, as front-end and pharmacy sales both fell short of forecasts. For the full year, Rite Aid lowered its EPS outlook to a range of 14 cents to 22 cents from 19 cents to 27 cents. The stock has run up 19% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 has gained 2%.