Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) reports its fourth-quarter and full-year 2023 results ahead of the opening bell on October 12, 2023, and analysts are bracing for another sharp decline in earnings.
The drugstore operator has had to contend with a weak consumer environment, as well as increased competition from online pharmacies.
Its results come a day after a two-day staged walkout by employees to protest what they describe as unsafe working conditions that compromise customer health.
They also follow the August 31 departure of CEO Rosalind Brewer, which followed the resignation of the company’s global chief financial offer James Kehoe a few weeks earlier.
Interim CEO Ginger Graham and interim CFO Manmohan Mahajan will deliver this week’s results and field questions from investors in a pre-market conference call.
While the company is expected to post a 6.5% year-over-year improvement in net sales to $34.56 for the quarter, earnings per share are likely to be down 15% at $0.68, according to Zacks Investment Research.
The company also reported a decline in 3Q earnings as consumers curtailed spending, with the result that it cut its full-year guidance to a range of $4 to $4.05 per share, down from its previous range of $4.45 to $4.65 per share.
Ahead of its results, the company’s shares were 2% up at $22.23 in Monday afternoon trading. They’ve fallen 40% year to date.
Contact the author at stephen.gunnion@proactiveinvestors.com