Walgreen Q4 Profit Soars 86%

Walgreen Company (NYSE: WAG), the largest drug store chain in the U.S. said on Tuesday that fiscal fourth quarter earnings soared 86%. Results were boosted by its acquisition of a beauty retailer Alliance Boots. For the latest period ended Aug. 31, the Deerfield Ill; based drug store chain reported a net income of $657 million or 69 cents a share compared to a profit of $353 million or 39 cents a share. Revenue jumped 5% to $17.94 billion. On adjusted basis earnings stood at 73 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $17.96 billion.

Walgreen Co. To Acquire Privately Owned Firm, Kerr Drug

Drugstore chain, Walgreen Company (NYSE: WAG) announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire a privately held pharmacy chain, Kerr Drug. The terms of the deal were not announced. North Carolina based Kerr Drug, which operates retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business, reported sales of nearly $381 million, in the last fiscal year. Walgreen, which is the nation’s leading drugstore chain, had sales of $72 billion, in the latest fiscal year. Deerfield-based Walgreen said that the acquisition will help it to gain traction with new wellness centers in North Carolina.

Major Movers on June 25; NFLX, BKS, WAG, P, IPXL

Shares of Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) fell 3% by afternoon trade after Bernstein’s senior equity analyst, carlos Kirjner downgraded the internet streaming company’s stock to “underperform” from “market-perform”. Bernstein has a price target of $180. The firm said current valuation reflected “unrealistic expectations.” In his research note, Kirjner wrote, “We believe Netflix will grow its subscriber base, will expand its margins and will be able to replicate its business model in different geographies….However, we also believe that the stock’s current valuation reflects unrealistic expectations across all major economic and strategic levers of the business.”

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Major Movers on March 19; LULU, AFFY, EA, SKUL, BKW, WAG

Shares of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) slumped on Tuesday after the maker of yoga and athletic apparels said last evening that it will pull out its signature black luon fabric yoga pants from its stores, showroom and e-sales website after it was found that certain batch had “unacceptable level of sheerness”, the Company said.

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Major Movers on March 13; DOLE, EXPR, NFLX, WAG, COH, DWA

Shares of Dole Food Company Inc. (NYSE: DOLE) slumped on Wednesday after the fruit and vegetable producer late last evening reported that it swung into a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter as fresh fruit sales were impacted due to divestiture while costs associated with the deal weighed on the bottom line.

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Major Movers on December 21; ALX, RIMM, NKE, MU, TIBX, WAG

Shares of Alexander’s Inc. (NYSE: ALX), a real estate investment trust (REIT), are gaining in trading today. At last check, ALX shares were trading 1.30% higher at $340.60 on above average volume of 18,867. The stock hit an intra-day high of $348.99 earlier today. Despite the gains today, ALX has fallen more than 24% in the last three trading sessions.

Continue reading Major Movers on December 21; ALX, RIMM, NKE, MU, TIBX, WAG