Walgreens Boots Alliance Falls on Steep U.S. Same-store Sales

With millions of people staying home now and indoors due to the coronavirus outbreak, many retailers have been seeing a drop in sales at their stores.

Drugstore retailer Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reported this week that it saw a steep decline in U.S. same store sales in the last week of March as a result.

Retail sales in the United States dropped after March 21st. Prior to this date customers had been stockpiling before the lockdowns were announced. According to Walgreens, if the current trend continues, the company said the gains from the early sales bump were likely to be erased soon.

Retail sales at its UK business also dropped 65% in the last 10 days.

Walgreens executives said the situation was temporary on a conference call.

“We believe the evidence is very clear that discretionary spending will come back, particularly in areas like beauty, which are really well-known for being a place where people spend when things are tougher,” Co-Chief Operating Officer Alexander Gourlay said.

Second quarter results for the period ended February 29th, had exceeded the comapny’s expectations.

Excluding items, Walgreens earned $1.52 per share in the second quarter, beating estimates of $1.46 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES estimates.

Walgreens said it would be revising its outlook for adjusted profit in the third quarter.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NASDAQ: WBA) and have not been compensated for this article.