Rite Aid Surges to 13-Month High on Earnings and Guidance

is riding high on Thursday after posting very successful fourth quarter and fiscal 2013 earnings as well as strong fiscal 2014 guidance. The Camp Hill, Pennsylvania-based firm posted fourth quarter EPS of $0.13, up substantially from its $0.18 loss per share in Q4 2012. This blew away analysts expectations of a $0.02 loss per share for the quarter. Fourth quarter revenue dropped 10 percent to $6.46 billion and finished about even with expectations. Full-year EPS improved to $0.12 after the company reported a loss of $0.43 in fiscal 2012. Total fiscal 2013 revenue dropped around three percent to $25.39 billion - exactly what analysts expected.

Same store pharmacy sales declined 3.1 percent during the fourth quarter. Total prescriptions filled rose by three percent, but overall sales were adversely impacted by new generic introductions. For the year, same store pharmacy sales dropped one percent. Similar to the fourth quarter results, prescriptions filled rose by 3.4 percent and were more than offset by new generics. And, this trend continued through March. The drug store chain reported a 4.5 percent decline in same store pharmacy sales for the month, with the impact of new generics outweighing a slight increase in its prescription count. Meanwhile, same store front end sales increased by a modest 0.3 percent during the fourth quarter and 1.4 percent for the year. In March, this figure climbed 3.8 percent, largely due to the timing of Easter, which fell on March 31.

In January,

that Rite Aid will pay $20.9 million to settle multiple lawsuits involving violations of federal wage laws. An estimated 6,100 employees are expected to collect around $1,800 each, as noted Oregon Live.

Rite Aid expects fiscal 2014 sales to finish in the $24.9 to $25.3 billion range, which would fall short of the $25.39 billion Wall Street consensus. However, the sixth-largest prescription filler anticipates earnings of $0.04 to $0.20 per share versus analysts' expectations of $0.03.

Rite Aid hovered in the high $1 range from mid-January through Wednesday. However, on word of its successful earnings and strong guidance, the stock has soared above $2 for the first time since March of 2012. Rite Aid is up about $19 percent on Thursday.