Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Advances But Underperforms Market: Key Facts
In the latest trading session, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) closed at $16.03, marking a +0.5% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.7%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.01%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.1%.
Shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain have depreciated by 9.38% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 1.98% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.03%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Walgreens Boots Alliance in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.68, signifying a 32% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $36 billion, reflecting a 1.64% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.23 per share and a revenue of $145.94 billion, representing changes of -18.84% and +4.93%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Walgreens Boots Alliance is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Walgreens Boots Alliance currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 4.94. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 7.36 for its industry.
It's also important to note that WBA currently trades at a PEG ratio of 0.99. 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. The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 0.75 as of yesterday's close.
The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 233, positioning it in the bottom 8% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.
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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) : Free Stock Analysis Report