On Thursday, Walgreens Boots Alliance’s shares dropped slightly in pre-market trading after the release of their second-quarter earnings report. Despite exceeding Wall Street expectations with $37.05 billion in revenue and $1.20 earnings per share, the company highlighted a challenging retail environment. Although the stock fell by 2%, it has decreased by over 20% since the beginning of the year.
Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth acknowledged the tough retail landscape that his company is facing. Despite outperforming analyst predictions, they reported a loss of $5.91 billion due in part to the closure of primary care provider VillageMD locations. Wentworth, who took over the company after working at Cigna, emphasized the ongoing restructuring efforts that have been a priority during his tenure. In February, Walgreens was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average and replaced by Amazon.
The pharmacy chain has made operational changes to improve its financial health, such as closing distribution centers in Florida and Connecticut. Additionally, they reduced their stock dividend in order to focus on investing in their pharmacy and healthcare services. Walgreens revised its full-year earnings guidance to be between $3.20 and $3.35 per share.
