Tag Archives: Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc

Business

Delta, Walgreens, Applied Materials and others

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Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

Delta Air Lines (DAL) – The airline’s stock rose 3.9% in the premarket on the strength of an upbeat current-quarter forecast as travel demand continues to rebound. For its most recent quarter, Delta earned an adjusted $1.51 per share, a number that was 2 cents below consensus but included a 3-cent impact from the effects of Hurricane Ian.

Walgreens (WBA) – Walgreens rallied 6.8% in the premarket after the drugstore operator reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue. The company also raised its long-term sales targets.

Applied Materials (AMAT) – Applied Materials lowered its current-quarter revenue outlook, with the chip manufacturing equipment maker saying it would be negatively impacted by new U.S. regulations restricting exports to China. Applied Materials lost 2% in premarket action.

Victoria’s Secret (VSCO) – Victoria’s Secret gained 3.1% in premarket trading after the lingerie maker said current quarter sales and profit would come in at the high end of prior forecasts. The upbeat forecast comes ahead of a meeting with analysts and investors scheduled for Thursday.

Digital World Acquisition (DWAC) – Digital World Acquisition surged 11.2% in the premarket after Google approved Truth Social – the social media platform backed by former President Donald Trump – for inclusion in its app store. Digital World is the special purpose acquisition company that plans to merge with Truth Social and take it public, though shareholders have yet to approve the merger.

Dish Network (DISH) – Dish gained 1% in premarket action after blank-check firm CONX Corp. said it was in talks to buy Dish’s retail wireless unit Boost Mobile. CONX is backed by Dish Network chairman Charles Ergen.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) – Taiwan Semi rose 2.3% in the premarket after the chip maker reported an 80% jump in quarterly profit and on reports that the U.S. granted Taiwan Semi a one-year license to continue ordering U.S. equipment for use in China.

Kohl’s (KSS) – Kohl’s gained 2.2% in premarket trading following a Wall Street Journal report that activist investor Macellum Advisors is warning the retailer that another proxy battle could be ahead. Macellum is said to be calling for the replacement of at least three directors after talks to sell the retailer earlier this year collapsed.

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Business

Walgreens (WBA) Q4 2022 earnings

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Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday exceeded fiscal fourth quarter sales and earnings expectations, as the drugstore chain turns itself into a more health-care focused company.

The company said it anticipates full-year adjusted earnings per share of $4.45 to $4.65 in the coming fiscal year, which is about in line with what Wall Street expected. Yet Walgreens said its business growth will face tough comparisons as it laps strong demand for Covid vaccines and gets hits by the strength of the dollar.

Shares were up about 5% in premarket trading.

Here’s what the company reported compared with what analysts were expecting for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Aug. 31, based on Refinitiv data:

  • Earnings per share: 80 cents, adjusted, vs. 77 cents expected
  • Revenue: $32.45 billion vs. $32.09 billion expected

Sales declined from the previous year’s quarter. Including certain costs, Walgreens swung to a loss in the three-month period. Its net loss was $415 million, or 48 cents per share, compared with a net income of $627 million, or 72 cents per share, a year earlier.

The company said its profits took a hit from a non-cash impairment charge in its Boots UK business and from its long-term cost management program. A year ago, Walgreens laid out a cost savings goal of $3.3 billion by 2024.

Walgreens has made significant investments to transform from a major drugstore chain to a large health-care company. It is opening hundreds of doctor offices with VillageMD. It invested $5.2 billion to become majority owner of the primary-care company. It recently announced plans to accelerate acquisitions of two other companies: CareCentrix, which coordinates care and benefits for at-home care, and Shields Health Solutions, a specialty pharmacy company.

Walgreens CEO Roz Brewer said in a news release that the coming fiscal year “will be a year of accelerating core growth and rapidly scaling our U.S. Healthcare business.”

At the end of the quarter, Walgreens had a total of 334 doctor offices with VillageMD. The clinics, called Village Medical, are located next to its drugstores. It also has 70 stores with Health Corners, a designated space where a registered nurse or pharmacist can schedule a mammogram, screen a patient for high blood pressure or diabetes or help with other health-care needs.

Covid vaccines, which boosted Walgreens’ sales and foot traffic, have fallen off significantly. In the fourth quarter, the drugstore chain administered 2.9 million vaccinations. That’s a decline from 4.7 million vaccines in its fiscal third quarter, and a sharp drop from the 15.6 million vaccines in the first quarter and the 11.8 million in the second quarter.

Sales in Walgreens’ retail and pharmacy division in the U.S. decreased by 7.2% to $26.7 billion in the fourth quarter compared with the year-ago period. Comparable sales rose 1.6%, however.

Its international business took a big hit from currency headwinds. It had fourth quarter sales of $5.1 billion, a drop of 6.6% from the year-ago period. That included a 13.3% adverse currency impact.

As customers come back to stores, Walgreens also said it is investing in its workforce to return to normal operating hours. However, it has continued to see some changes in shopping habits. Its U.S. digital sales growth grew 14% in the fourth quarter, on top of an 82% increase in the year-ago period.

On Thursday, the company raised its outlook for the health care division. It said it now anticipates a sales target of $12 billion, rather than $11 billion, for fiscal 2025.

As of Wednesday’s close, Walgreens shares are down nearly 39% so far this year. That trails behind the S&P 500, which is down about 25%. Shares of Walgreens closed Wednesday at $31.94, down about 2%.

Read the company’s earnings release here.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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Business

Stock futures are up as investors await inflation data

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Stock futures rose slightly early on Thursday as investors look ahead to inflation data and earnings in the coming days that may provide insight into the future health of the economy.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 32 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 futures added 0.13%, while futures tied to the Nasdaq increased 0.07%.

The action follows a day of small ups and downs for the market as investors digested minutes from the September Federal Reserve meeting. The minutes showed the central bank expected to keep hiking interest rates until it sees receding inflation. But one comment made some think the Fed might instead slow the rate hikes, if not roll them back, if financial markets tumult continued.

The S&P 500 fell 0.33% to close at 3,577.03. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.09% to 10,417.10. The Dow Jones slipped 0.10%, or 28.34 points, to close at 29,210.85.

“Fed speakers similarly have, since the last meeting, been wedded to the message that their commitment remains solid, even in the face of global financial fault lines showing signs of strain,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist at LPL Financial.

Early in the day, the September producer price index, a gauge of inflation that looks at final-demand wholesale prices, beat expectations. It rose 0.4% in September, more than Dow Jones’ consensus estimate of 0.2%.

Investors have more data to weigh Thursday as the consumer price index comes in the morning. Dow Jones’ consensus estimates show the CPI rose 0.3% in September, up from 0.1% in August. That would bring inflation’s annual pace to 8.1% from 8.3%.

Despite what she called a lukewarm response to PPI data and the Fed’s meeting minutes, Krosby said markets could be tested if the CPI print is higher than expected, particularly in bond yields.

Household names including Delta Air Lines, Walgreens and Domino’s Pizza will report earnings before the bell Thursday, coming as part of a week considered the start to a new corporate earnings season.

Weekly jobless claims data will also be released Thursday morning.

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Business

Don’t ‘be a hero’ while the Fed battles inflation

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday warned investors against adding to their portfolios until the stock market and economy become less volatile.

“This economy is a runaway train; it’s smashed through the Fed’s blockades today, so now they may just blow up the tracks to derail the whole darn thing. When they detonate, it’ll be safe to buy. Until then, I am urging you not to be a hero,” he said.

Cramer warned that he expects central bank officials to stick to their hawkish stance on inflation, adding that the producer price index and consumer price index due next week could shed more light on the state of inflation and the Fed’s next moves.

Stocks tumbled on Friday after the September jobs report signaled that the job market is strengthening despite the central bank’s aggressive interest rate increases.

“There’s always the possibility that this is the last red-hot employment number, in which case the Fed’s tightening into an abyss and the damage could be catastrophic,” he said.

Cramer also previewed next week’s slate of earnings. All earnings and revenue estimates are courtesy of FactSet.

Wednesday: PepsiCo

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 6 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:15 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $1.84
  • Projected revenue: $20.81 billion

Cramer said he’s hoping the company will report that its raw costs are coming down.

Thursday: Delta Airlines, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Domino’s Pizza, BlackRock

Delta Air Lines

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $1.55
  • Projected revenue: $12.90 billion

The company is likely concerned about rising oil prices, Cramer predicted.

Walgreens Boots Alliance

  • Q4 2022 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: 77 cents
  • Projected revenue: $32.09 billion

Domino’s Pizza

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $2.98
  • Projected revenue: $1.07 billion

He said that he believes both Walgreens and Domino’s are dealing with worker shortages.

BlackRock

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 6:15 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m ET
  • Projected EPS: $7.64
  • Projected revenue: $4.3 billion

Cramer said he’s betting the company will report great results and that he’d be a buyer of the stock.

Friday: JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group

JPMorgan Chase 

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $2.92
  • Projected revenue: $32.13 billion

Wells Fargo 

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 7 a.m. ET; conference call at 10 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $1.10
  • Projected revenue: $18.76 billion

Morgan Stanley 

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 7:30 a.m. ET; conference call at 9:30 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $1.52
  • Projected revenue: $13.24 billion

“With employment still red-hot, it’s entirely possible the banks can make a killing here without much risk of bad loans,” Cramer said.

UnitedHealth Group

  • Q3 2022 earnings release at 5:55 a.m. ET; conference call at 8:45 a.m. ET
  • Projected EPS: $5.43
  • Projected revenue: $80.52 billion

While he has faith the quarter will be solid, he expects the stock to decline if the company’s results are short of being perfect.

Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

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Business

Cisco, BJ’s Wholesale, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and more

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Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:

Cisco Systems — Shares of the networking equipment producer jumped 5.8%. The company reported earnings after the bell on Wednesday that beat estimates. Cisco also provided a better-than-expected forecast for 2023.

Bed Bath & Beyond — The latest favored meme stock, which has surged in August, dropped over 20%. Investors appeared to be reacting to activist investor Ryan Cohen’s filing that he intends to sell his entire stake in the company.

Kohl’s — Kohl’s shares sank about 5% after the retailer slashed its financial forecast for the year, citing inflation pressures on middle-income customers. The company expects net sales in fiscal 2022 down 5% to 6%, down from a prior range of flat to up 1%. However, Kohl’s beat analysts’ expectations for fiscal second-quarter profit and revenue.

BJ’s Wholesale — Shares of the club retailer popped more than 7% on Thursday after BJ’s reported better-than-expected results for the second quarter. The company generated $1.06 in adjusted earnings per share on $5.01 billion of revenue. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting 80 cents per share on $4.67 billion of revenue. The company’s comparable sales rose 7.6% year over year, excluding gasoline. BJ’s was also upgraded by Bank of America to a buy from neutral.

Elanco Animal Health — Shares of Elanco shed more than 3% after the company was downgraded by Morgan Stanley. The firm shifted the stock to equal weight from overweight citing concerns about future profits.

Verizon — Shares of Verizon slipped 2.7% after MoffettNathanson downgraded it to underperform and slashed its price target. Increased competition from AT&T and T-Mobile is weighing on Verizon and will likely drag shares lower, analysts said.

Canadian Solar — The solar equipment and services company hit a new 52-week high, popping nearly 18%, after reporting quarterly profits that beat expectations. Canadian Solar also raised its full-year revenue forecast and reported solar module shipments that were at the high end of its forecast.

Wolfspeed — Shares surged more than 27% after the semiconductor company surpassed expectations in its most recent earnings report. Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe said he remains “very encouraged about the industry’s prospects for future growth and the activity we are seeing across our end-markets.”

Walgreens Boots Alliance — Shares of Walgreens fell more than 5% in midday trading. The drugstore chain, along with CVS and Walmart, was ordered Wednesday by a federal judge to pay a combined $650.6 million to two Ohio counties to address damage done by the opioid crisis. Walgreens also announced Wednesday it had sold 11 million shares of Option Care Health’s common stock in an underwritten secondary offering.

Energy stocks — Energy stocks were buoyed by the rise in oil prices, with shares of Devon Energy rising more than 3%. Halliburton jumped 4%, and APA added more than 5%. Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum and both gained about 2%.

—CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Carmen Reinicke and Sarah Min contributed reporting.

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Business

Kohl’s terminates sale talks with Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group: Sources

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A Kohl’s store in San Rafael, Calif.

Getty Images

Kohl’s is terminating talks to sell its business to The Vitamin Shoppe owner Franchise Group, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC on Thursday.

The people requested anonymity because a decision from Kohl’s has not been publicly announced.

Representatives from Kohl’s and Franchise Group didn’t immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

This decision from Kohl’s comes as its stock price slumps and its sales decline. It has faced months of pressure from activist investors to pursue a sale and shake up the business with a new slate of board directors. It wasn’t immediately clear what path Kohl’s would take next.

Financing such a deal has also become more difficult due to volatility in the stock market and broader economy, as the Federal Reserve jacks up interest rates to counter surging inflation. Walgreens Boots Alliance earlier this week scrapped its plan to sell its U.K. pharmacy chain, Boots, saying no third party was able to make an adequate offer due to turmoil in the global financial markets.

Franchise Group had been weighing lowering its bid for Kohl’s to closer to $50 per share from about $60, CNBC reported last week, citing a person familiar with the matter. The shift in thinking came as the outlook for the retail industry grew increasingly grim, the person said, as fears of a recession mounted.

Franchise Group in early June proposed a bid of $60 per share to acquire Kohl’s at a roughly $8 billion valuation. The two companies then entered an exclusive three-week window during which they can firm up any due diligence and final financing arrangements. That ran its course this past weekend.

Kohl’s shares closed Thursday at $35.69. At one point during the day the stock touched a 52-week low of $34.33. Kohl’s ended the day with a market valuation of roughly $4.6 billion, its shares down about 28% so far this year.

Kohl’s earlier this year received a per-share offer of $64 from Starboard-backed Acacia Research, but it deemed the bid to be too low.

Activist firm Macellum Advisors has been pushing for Kohl’s to consider a sale or consider other strategic alternatives since January. Macellum was also arguing for Kohl’s to revamp its slate of directors, arguing the retailer, under Chief Executive Officer Michelle Gass, has underperformed in recent years compared with its peers.

Macellum didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

In mid-May, however, Kohl’s shareholders voted to reelect the company’s current slate of 13 board directors, thereby defeating Macellum’s proposal.

In recent weeks, the outlook for the retail industry has grown bleaker as consumers pull back their spending on certain discretionary categories, such as home goods and apparel, amid inflation and the threat of an economic slowdown.

High-end furniture chain RH on Wednesday cut its forecast for revenue in fiscal 2022, anticipating softer consumed demand for its products in the back half of the year. Bed Bath & Beyond saw its sales plummet in its most recent quarter and ousted its CEO.

Companies are also seeing inventories pile up as shipments of goods arrive later than planned, due to supply chain snags. Big-box retailer Target in early June warned investors that its profits will take a short-term hit, as it marks down unwanted items, cancels orders and takes aggressive steps to get rid of extra inventory.

Kohl’s sales for the three-month period ended April 30 fell to $3.72 billion from $3.89 billion in 2021. When it reported these figures in mid-May, the retailer also slashed its profit and revenue forecasts for the full fiscal year, further muddying the picture for a potential deal.

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Business

Treasury yields fall as traders track economic data, Fed remarks

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U.S. Treasury yields slipped Wednesday as investors continue to assess the economic outlook amid rising recession fears.

At around 5:48 a.m. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down at 3.173%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped to 3.285%. Yields move inversely to prices.

As the second quarter draws to a close on Thursday, concern over a slowing economy and aggressive interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve continue to dominate market sentiment.

An attempted rally for risk assets fizzled out on Tuesday after a disappointing consumer confidence reading, which came in at 98.7, below Dow Jones’ consensus estimates of 100.

The Conference Board’s one-year ahead inflation expectations hit a record high of 8.0%, exceeding the 7.7% seen in June 2008, while the Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index came in at -19, its lowest since May 2020 and well below consensus expectations of -7.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is due to give a speech at the European Central Bank forum at 9 a.m. ET. Powell acknowledged in a testimony to the Senate banking committee last week that steep rate hikes may tip the U.S. economy into recession, but reiterated the central bank’s commitment to reining in inflation.

On the economic data front, final first-quarter GDP figures are due at 8:30 a.m., along with PCE prices, corporate profits and consumer spending data.

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Business

Some of the first quarter’s biggest losers could be the biggest steals, Jim Cramer says

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Investors should consider purchasing stock of the first quarter’s biggest losers if the market shows signs of recovering on its own, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.

“This market’s screaming that we’re headed for a [Federal Reserve]-mandated slowdown, that could possibly become a Fed-mandated recession,” the “Mad Money” host said. “If we get more signs that inflation is cooling on its own, like the pullback in oil, then some of the hardest hit stocks might end up looking pretty enticing.”

The first quarter of 2022 was marked by rampant volatility. Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February sent commodities prices including oil skyrocketing, while in March the Fed took its first interest rate hike in three years in an attempt to tamp down rising prices. Global Covid outbreaks last month also caused supply chain snarls as factories in key areas like China were forced to shutter.

Fed Chair Jay Powell in late March vowed to take strong action against inflation as needed. 

Adding to the speculative market environment, a key part of the Treasury yield remained inverted on Monday after 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields shifted last week, heightening concerns about a possible recession coming. While inversions have historically preceded some economic recessions, they are not guaranteed indicators.

Cramer said that energy stocks performed the best during the first quarter due to soaring prices, while “recession-resistant” utility stocks also rallied. Cramer also listed the first quarter’s biggest winning and losing companies that are listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100.

Here are the winners and losers:

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Winners

Losers

S&P 500

Winners

Losers

Nasdaq 100

Losers

Disclosure: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Chevron, Salesforce, Halliburton, Meta

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Business

Tesla, Spotify, Netflix, Beyond Meat and more

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The Spotify app on an iPhone.

Fabian Sommer | picture alliance | Getty Images

Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

Intuitive Surgical – Shares of Intuitive Surgical rose 3.5% after Piper Sandler on Monday upgraded the medical stock to overweight from neutral. The firm said the “recent pullback offers investors an attractive entry point into a premier medtech name.”

Align Technology — Shares of the dental company popped more than 7% in midday trading after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Align Technology as overweight. “ALGN is well positioned in the fastest-growing segment of the Dental market with its leading position in clear aligners,” the firm said. The bank gave the stock a $575 per share price target.

Kellogg — Shares of the food company ticked 2.8% lower in midday trading after BMO downgraded Kellogg to market perform from outperform. The Wall Street firm said that it sees cereal “challenges” ahead.

Enphase Energy — Enphase Energy shares surged 10% after the company, which makes microinverters and backup energy storage for solar systems, announced an expansion of battery storage in Massachusetts.

Citrix Systems — Citrix shares fell 3.7% after reports that the cloud-computing company will be taken private in an all-cash deal worth $16.5 billion, including debt. Vista Equity Partners and an affiliate of Elliott Management are acquiring Citrix for $104 per share, according to The Wall Street Journal.

BlackBerry – BlackBerry shares added 4.7% after the communications software company announced a deal to sell its legacy patents for $600 million. The noncore patent assets include mobile devices, messaging and wireless networking. Catapult, a special purpose vehicle, was formed to acquire the BlackBerry patents.

Otis Worldwide – Shares of the elevator company rose more than 2% after Otis reported 72 cents in earnings per share for the fourth quarter, four cents ahead of estimates, according to Refinitiv. The company missed on revenue estimates but said it expected sales and operating margins to grow in 2022.

Walgreens – Walgreens shares dipped about 2% after Bloomberg reported the company has started the sales process for its Boots international drugstore unit. Additional buyout firms, such as Sycamore Partners, are reportedly considering bids.

— CNBC’s Yun Li, Tanaya Macheel, Margaret Fitzgerald and Jesse Pound contributed reporting

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Business

Stock futures are flat after Wednesday’s sell-off

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A trader works on the trading floor on the last day of trading before Christmas at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City, December 23, 2021.

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Wednesday after the major U.S. stock averages fell sharply in the first losing regular trading session of the year.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 25 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures were little changed and Nasdaq 100 futures were less than 0.1% lower.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December meeting revealed the central bank discussed reducing its balance sheet in another move to aggressively dial back its pandemic-era easy monetary policy.

The Fed’s plan to reduce the number of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities it holds comes as it is already tapering its bond purchases and is set to hike interest rates after the taper concludes.

“Almost all participants agreed that it would likely be appropriate to initiate balance sheet runoff at some point after the first increase in the target range for the federal funds rate,” the minutes stated.

Stocks slid following the release of the minutes. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 392.54 points, or 1.07%, lower after hitting an intraday record earlier in the session. The S&P 500 fell 1.94%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw its biggest one-day loss since February, losing 3.34%.

“If you ride a wave of liquidity to the upside and that liquidity starts to go away, I don’t think it’s terribly surprising that you’re going to see a reaction,” said Kathy Jones, head of fixed income at Charles Schwab.

“This was the year we were going to transition from extremely easy monetary policy and fiscal policy to less easy monetary and less expansive fiscal policy. That has to have some impact on risk assets that have risen because the discount rate was so low,” Jones added.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors fell in Wednesday’s session.

Investors await quarterly earnings reports from Walgreens Boots Alliance and Bed Bath & Beyond before the bell Thursday.

On the data front, the weekly jobless claims report is slated for released Thursday morning.

—CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.

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