Shares of CVS Health Corp. CVS, +0.63% rallied 1.8% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the drugstore chain beat second-quarter profit and sales expectations, boosted by an increase in prescription growth, and raised its outlook. The company swung to a net loss of $2.56 billion, or $2.52 a share, from a profit of $1.10 billion, or $1.07 a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such as a $3.9 billion goodwill impairment charge, adjusted earnings per share were $1.69, above the FactSet consensus of $1.61. Revenue grew 2.2% to $46.71 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $46.32 billion. Same-store sales increased 5.9% to top the FactSet consensus of 5.4% growth, as pharmacy sales rose 8.3% to beat expectations of a 6.6% rise while front-store sales fell 1% to miss expectations of a 2.15 rise. The company said pharmacy same-store sales were boosted by prescription volumes, partially offset by reimbursement pressure and generic introductions. CVS raised its 2018 adjusted EPS outlook to $6.98 to $7.08 from $6.87 to $7.08. The stock has lost 9.7% year to date through Tuesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.28% has gained 6.9%.
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