Amazon to Acquire PillPack and Sends Pharma and Drug Store Stocks Lower

A whopping $17.5 billion was wiped out from eight companies in a single trading day on Thursday.

The losses came after Wall Street learned that e-commerce giant Amazon has decided to buy PillPack, an online pharmacy startup, and that it would recruit entrepreneurs to run local delivery networks.

FedEx and UPS took a hit, as well as drug store stocks CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and McKesson.

According to sources, Amazon is paying around $1 billion for PillPack. Walmart had also been in discussions for the company and a source said Walmart’s original offer was just over $700 million.

PillPack tweeted, “We’re thrilled to share that @amazon has agreed to acquire PillPack. Together, we will continue making it easy for customers to save time, simplify their lives, and feel healthier. We’re excited for our future together.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) nor Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and have not been compensated for this article.