Walgreens Boots Alliance's fourth-quarter earnings per share and revenue, while lower than last year, exceeded Wall Street's expectations, according to CNBC.
Six things for pharmacy leaders to know:
- Walgreens' fourth-quarter profit fell by 55 percent to $677 million as the company spent more money to close unprofitable locations, lay off employees and cut down on tobacco sales. This compares to a profit of $1.51 billion during the fourth quarter of 2018.
- During the fourth quarter of 2019, Walgreens reported revenue of $33.95 billion, compared to $33.89 billion that analysts expected.
- Comparable sales in the company's U.S. retail pharmacy business increased 2.1 percent to $26 billion in the fourth quarter. Pharmacy sales drove a majority of the increases.
- During a call with analysts about its fourth-quarter earnings results, Walgreens announced plans to cut more than $1.8 billion in expenses by fiscal year 2022, more than the previously announced $1.5 billion.
- The company has already said it will close 200 Walgreens stores in the U.S. and 200 Boots stores in the U.K.
- Walgreens shares have fallen nearly 19 percent this year as it struggles to show investors it has a plan to compete with rivals.
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