Walgreen Company (WAG) 4th Quarter Results Beat Estimates

Walgreen Co (NYSE: WAG), the largest U.S. drugstore chain, posted a slightly smaller quarterly profit on Tuesday. In the fiscal fourth quarter ended on Aug. 31, profit fell to $436 million, or 44 cents per share from $443 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier. The latest quarter included 3 cents in costs and 7 cents in savings from Walgreen's transformation plans. Sales rose 7.6% to $15.7 billion, while sales at stores open at least a year rose 2.4%.

Analysts expected earnings per share to drop 13% to 39 cents a share for the fourth quarter that ended Aug. 31 and revenue of $15.68 billion.

Shares of WAG rose 9.27% to $37.35 in premarket trading on Tuesday.