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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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The most recent trading session ended with Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) standing at $21.54, reflecting a -0.05% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.96%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.3%.

The largest U.S. drugstore chain's stock has dropped by 5.77% in the past month, falling short of the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 4.23% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.69%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Walgreens Boots Alliance in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.84, signifying a 27.59% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $36.41 billion, indicating a 4.44% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

For the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $3.24 per share and a revenue of $144.34 billion, representing changes of -18.59% and +3.78%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.33% lower. Currently, Walgreens Boots Alliance is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Walgreens Boots Alliance is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 6.64. This valuation marks no noticeable deviation compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 6.64.

Investors should also note that WBA has a PEG ratio of 1.33 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.54 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, putting it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.


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