Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter

GuruFocus.com
·2 min read

- By Graham Griffin

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) has released growing year-over-year earnings for the second quarter and boasted its administration of 8 million Covid-19 vaccines.

The retail pharmacy chain reported total earnings per share of $1.19, a 10.9% increase compared to the year-ago quarter. However, total adjusted earnings per share decreased 7.5% to $1.40 on a constant currency basis. The company also increased sales by 4.6% to $32.8 billion.


Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter
Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter

The company's U.S. segment saw a small increase to total sales during the quarter. Pharmacy sales increased by 3% compared to the year-ago quarter and accounted for 74.9% of the segment's sales. Despite the increase in sales, total prescriptions filled during the quarter saw a small decrease due in part to reduced doctor visits and a weak cold and flu season.

The international segment saw an increase in sales of 32.6%, including a favorable currency impact of 8.7% according to the company's press release. A new joint venture in Germany was credited with the majority of the increase in sales. Boots U.K. sales decreased during the quarter due to Covid-19-related impacts, but Boots.com sales rallied 105% compared to the year-ago quarter.

A statement included in the release explained an increase in expected growth through 2021 thanks to the company performing above expectations in the first half of the year. Walgreens is anticipating continued strong growth through the second half of the year, but expects the situation surrounding Covid-19 to remain fluid.

On April 1, the stock was trading at $55.17 per share with a market cap of $47.88 billion. The shares are currently modestly undervalued according to the GF Value Line.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter
Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter

Top gurus invested in Walgreens include John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio) and Jim Simons (Trades, Portfolio)' Renaissance Technologies.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter
Walgreens Boots Alliance Posts Growing Earnings for 2nd Quarter

Disclosure: Author owns no stocks mentioned.

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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.