By Senad Karaahmetovic
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) are moving lower in pre-open Thursday despite the retail pharmacy chain reporting higher-than-expected FQ1 sales.
Walgreens Boots reported first-quarter EPS of $1.16 to beat the analyst estimate of $1.12. Revenue for the quarter came in at $33.4 billion versus the consensus estimate of $32.83B. The adjusted gross margin came in at 21%, below the 21.3% estimate.
Comparable pharmacy sales rose 4.8% in the quarter compared to the year-ago quarter.
WBA reiterated its FY forecast for adjusted EPS between $4.45 and $4.65 on revenue of $133.5B - $137.5B. Analysts were looking for an adjusted EPS of $4.48 on sales of $134.8B.
Evercore ISI analysts commented:
"Given that it’s FY1Q (+ COVID vagaries), management prudently kept the full year EPS guide. We look forward to updates on the core profit trajectory throughout the rest of the year as well as the results of the transformational cost management plan."
As of 08:34 ET (13:34 GMT), WBA stock is down 4.5%.