Walgreens Boots Alliance Rallies Off Q3 Beat And Raised Guidance

Joel Elconin is the co-host of Benzinga's #PreMarket Prep, a daily trading idea radio show. Walgreen Boots Alliance Inc WBA shares were trading sharply higher by $4.23 at $90.15 in Thursday's session. The catalyst for the rally is a Q3 beat for EPS ($1.02 vs. $0.87 estimates) with a slight miss for revenue ($28.8 billion vs. $29.5 billion). The company also raised its quarterly dividend, raised EPS estimates for 2015 and reaffirmed its FY2016 outlook. After a higher open ($90 vs. Wednesday's close of $85.91), it had quick retreat to $88 before returning and making a new high for the session at $90.24. That marks the highest level for the issue since it peaked on April 16 at $91.29. The all-time high stands at its April 9 high ($93.42). On that same day, it posted its all-time closing high of $92.62. Today's rally is taking place on higher than average volume. So far, over 6 million shares have changed hands compared to its 20-day average of 3.95 million.