Walgreens Surges on Better-Than-Expected US Pharmacy Sales
A Walgreens store in San Francisco.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reported quarterly sales that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, spurring the shares to their biggest gain in 45 years and easing pressure on the drugstore chain as it mulls strategic options including a sale.
Revenue came to $39 billion for the fiscal quarter ended in November, driven by higher prices for branded drugs and prescription volumes at the company’s US retail pharmacy division, the company said Friday. That beat the average of analysts’ estimates, and the shares closed up 28% in New York, the most since they began trading in 1980.