Written by StockNews.com

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) early Wednesday posted mixed fiscal second quarter earnings results, as currency effects decimated its international sales figures.

The Deerfield, IL-based drugstore operator reported that:

• Fiscal Q2 earnings per share (EPS) were $1.36, which was in-line with the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.36.
• Revenues fell 2.4% from last year to $29.45 billion, missing analysts’ view for $30.17 billion. Excluding currency effects, revenues would have gained 0.9%, the company noted.
• Retail Pharmacy USA sales rose 1.5% to $21.8 billion, while
• comparable store sales (“comps”) gained 2.4%.
• Pharmacy sales, which accounted for 66.5% of that division’s sales in Q2, gained 3.7%, while
• comparable pharmacy sales jumped 4.2% on higher volume
• comparable retail sales fell 0.8% in what WAG called a “challenging” market.
• Retail Pharmacy International unit sales plunged 14.5% to $3.1 billion, hurt mainly by a stronger dollar and weaker euro. Excluding currency effects, sales fell a more respectable 1.9%.

Looking ahead, Walgreen’s reiterated its full-year 2017 EPS outlook of $4.90 to $5.08, which is in-line with Wall Street’s consensus view of $4.98.

Walgreens Boots Alliance also noted it:

“continues to be actively engaged in discussions with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the pending Rite Aid (RAD) acquisition, and the extension of the end date of the agreement to 31 July 2017 allows the parties additional time to obtain regulatory approval.”

...Year-to-date, WBA had gained 0.14% prior to today’s report, versus a 5.80% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

WBA currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of B (Buy), and is ranked #1 of 5 stocks in the Medical – Drug Stores category.