Walgreens Stock Slips After Revenue Miss

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. shares slipped 0.2% in Thursday premarket trading after the pharmacy chain missed fourth-quarter sales estimates. The company reported net income of $1.03 billion, or 95 cents per share, up from $26 million, or 2 cents per share, for the same period last year. Adjusted per share earnings were $1.07, exceeding the 99 cents FactSet consensus. Sales for the quarter were $28.64 billion, up from $28.52 billion last year, but below the $29.11 billion forecast by FactSet. Walgreens sees fiscal 2017 adjusted earnings of $4.85 to $5.20. The FactSet consensus is $5.03. The acquisition of Rite Aid Corp. is "progressing as planned," Walgreens said, with the expected requirement that the companies divest between 500 and 1,000 stores. Walgreens shares are down 9.4% for the year so far while the S&P 500 Index is up 4.9% for the same period.