Walgreens-Greater Than AIDS Unite to Serve Against HIV/AIDS

Even amid an extremely unclear scenario related to the impending Rite Aid merger, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. WBA continues to work successfully on business expansion through strategic partnerships. Keeping in line with this, it has recently formed an alliance with Greater Than AIDS, a national public information response, focused on the U.S. domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic.

This is not the first time that Walgreens has teamed up with Greater Than AIDS. For the past six years, the companies have been coordinating with health departments and local AIDS service organizations (ASOs) as part of a National HIV Testing Day effort to offer free HIV testing and counseling on prevention strategies, including Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).

PrEP is a prescription medication and an alternative means to provide HIV protection. Walgreens has also recommended antiretrovirals, which apart from treating HIV, helps to prevent the spread of virus.

This Jun 27 and 28, testing will be performed at over 220 Walgreens stores across 130 cities. Notably, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already advised to induct HIV testing into routine health care.

With greater awareness, the global market for HIV/AIDS testing and treatment is expanding at a significant rate. Per the P&S market research report, the global HIV diagnosis market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.6%, during 2017-2023.

We believe, this approach by Walgreens to generate daily awareness on HIV/ AIDS, will help increase customer footfall in its stores this two days. This may also add to the sales comps of Walgreens for the month of June.  

Due to Walgreens-Rite Aid merger related upheaval, the company has been trading below the Zacks classified Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry over the last three months. The stock has dipped 1.9%, slightly wider than the broader industry's 0.1% decline.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Walgreens currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Few better-ranked medical stocks are Align Technology, Inc. ALGN, Hill-Rom Holdings Inc. HRC and Accelerate Diagnostics, Inc. AXDX. While Align Technology sports a Zacks Rank #1(Strong Buy), Hill-Rom Holdings and Accelerate Diagnostics carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Align Technology has an expected long-term adjusted earnings growth of almost 24.1%. The stock has roughly added 28.1% over the last three months.

Hill-Rom Holdings has a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 17.5%. The stock has a solid one-year return of around 55%.

Accelerate Diagnostics has an expected long-term adjusted earnings growth of 30%. The stock has roughly supplemented 19.5% over the last three months.

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