Walgreens Is Falling While Rite Aid Ticks Higher

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA were trading lower by more than 3 percent Wednesday after the company reported its third quarter results and updated its full year fiscal 2016 expectations.

Walgreens said it earned $1.18 per share in the third quarter on revenue of $29.5 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.14 per share on revenue of $29.7 billion.

Despite a better-than-expected earnings per share beat, investors were particularly bearish on the name. The Street cited a report by David Larsen of Leerink Partners who suggested the selling activity is attributed to a "tax disclosure" that was provided on the post earnings conference call.

Related Link: Walgreens Boots Alliance Q3 Adjusted Earnings Top Expectations, But Shares Fall

Shares of Rite Aid Corporation RAD were trading higher by more than 2 percent after Walgreens provided an update on its pending acquisition.

Walgreens agreed to acquire Rite Aid on October 27, 2015, and the company said in its earnings report the merger progress is "progressing as planned."

Walgreens expects the acquisition of Rite Aid to finalize and close at some point in the bottom half of calendar 2016.

Walgreens Guidance Update

Walgreens also provided an update to its full year fiscal 2016 outlook.

The company raised the lower end of its prior guidance by $0.10 per share and now expects its full year earnings to be $4.45 to $4.55 per share.

Walgreens added its revised guidance also assumes no impact from its acquisition of Rite Aid and also assumes that current exchange rates for the rest of the fiscal year remain the same.