Walgreens Boots Alliance Reports Solid Q1, Raises Lower End Of Guidance

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA were trading higher by more than 1 percent shortly after Thursday's opening bell. Walgreens Boots reported its first quarter results earlier in the morning. The company said that it earned $1.03 per share in the quarter on revenue of $29 billion. Wall Street analysts were looking for the company to earn $0.96 per share on $29.24 billion. Walgreens Boots added that its first quarter net earnings increased 30.6 percent to $1.1 billion from a year ago. The company also noted that combined net synergies in the quarter were $288 million and management continues to expect to reach at least $1.0 billion in combined synergies during the fiscal year relating to its combination with Alliance Boots. Walgreen Boots also raised the lower end of its fiscal 2016 earnings per share outlook by $0.05 to a new range of $4.30 to $4.55. Meanwhile, the Street is projecting the company to earn $4.40 per share during the full fiscal year. Finally, Walgreen Boots noted it expects to finalize and close its acquisition of Rite Aid Corporation RAD during the bottom half of the calendar year. "The work to renew and update our businesses, in order to meet the opportunities and challenges of our ever-changing markets, is a core strength that we must embrace as routine across our enterprise," Executive Vice Chairman and CEO Stefano Pessina said. "Our ability to deploy tools and strategies that address these dynamics, generating continued growth across Walgreens Boots Alliance, and the commitment I see from our team give me confidence that we will deliver what we have signaled for 2016 and beyond."