Walgreens' Stock Rises After Profit Beats Expectations

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. rose 1.2% in premarket trade Thursday, after the drug store chain's better-than-expected profit and comparable-store sales offset a miss in total revenue. For the quarter ended Feb. 28, net earnings more than doubled to $2.04 billion, or $1.96 a share, from $716 million, or 74 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as gains on previously held equity interests, adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.18, beating the FactSet consensus of 95 cents. Sales rose 35.5% to $26.57 billion, missing the FactSet consensus of $27.83 billion. Same-store sales climbed 6.9%, boosted by a 9.7% jump in pharmacy sales, compared with FactSet consensus of 5.3% and 7.2%, respectively. The stock has gained 15% year to date, while the S&P 500 has advanced 1.1%.