Walgreens Boots Alliance shares moved higher on Tuesday morning after it posted second quarter fiscal 2023 results that beat Wall Street’s expectations on both the top and bottom lines.
The pharmacy store chain said its quarterly profit declined by more than 20% year-over-year, driven by significantly lower COVID-19 vaccine and testing volumes.
For the quarter ended February 28, 2023, adjusted earnings per share fell 27.2% year-over-year to $1.16, coming in ahead of the consensus analyst expectation of adjusted earnings per share of $1.10.
Revenue was up 3.3% from the year-ago quarter to $34.9 billion, above the Street’s expectation of $33.5 billion.
Comparable script volume growth excluding immunizations grew 3.5% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023.
Walgreens said it administered 2.4 million COVID-19 vaccinations in the quarter, compared to 11.8 million in the year-ago quarter.
The pharmacy giant also reiterated its full-year adjusted earnings per share guidance of $4.45 to $4.65 and projected adjusted earnings per share growth in the second half of fiscal 2023 in the mid-20%.
“WBA exited a solid second quarter with acceleration in February, adding to our confidence in driving strong growth in the second half of the year,” commented Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer.
Walgreens shares had added 3.7% at US$34.16 shortly after the opening bell in New York on Tuesday.
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