Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed the latest trading day at $22.81, indicating a -1.3% change from the previous session's end. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.82%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.41%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.95%.
Coming into today, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had lost 8.87% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 7.3%, while the S&P 500 gained 5.59%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Walgreens Boots Alliance in its upcoming release. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.85, marking a 26.72% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $36.29 billion, indicating a 4.08% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.25 per share and revenue of $144.3 billion. These totals would mark changes of -18.34% and +3.75%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.31% lower. Walgreens Boots Alliance presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Walgreens Boots Alliance is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.1. This expresses no noticeable deviation compared to the average Forward P/E of 7.1 of its industry.
Also, we should mention that WBA has a PEG ratio of 1.42. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.54 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 115, finds itself in the top 46% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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