Financial Trading Blog

Stock of the day 08/07/2015 – Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc




The start of 2015 brought with it a continuation of the company’s post-October surge, opening 2015 at $75 as the newly formed Walgreens Boots Alliance, and hitting $88.72 near the end of March, a fresh all-time high. This record was broken following the company’s first report since the merger, its second quarter 2015 earnings release. Walgreens Boots Alliance posted a muscular 35.5% jump in sales to $26.6 billion alongside quarterly net earnings of $2.04 billion. Whilst the former figure was slightly lower than analysts had expected, investors didn’t care, soaring by 5.6% to a fresh record high of $93.41 in the process.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Chart July 2015
(Source: IT-Finance.com 08/07/2015)

However, this robust growth couldn’t be sustained, and following this all-time peak Walgreens Boots Alliance took a tumble, slipping back down to $82.93 across April. Since then it has struggled to escape its $84 to $87 trading bracket, with only a brief foray towards $90 towards the end of June interrupting this pattern. It has a current trading price of $87.25 (IT-Finance.com, 08/07/2015).

In terms of its fiscal third quarter results, its super-charged growth is expected to continue, even if some mixed figures are expected to be sprinkled in among the headline numbers. Analysts expect a 53% leap in revenue to $29.67 billion year-on-year to be joined by a 4% fall in earnings per share to $0.87. Interestingly, despite the recent acquisition of Boots, Walgreens is still on the hunt for a bigger part of the M&A pie and investors will be keen for an update on any potential targets in the company’s sights. Walgreens Boots Alliance has a consensus rating of ‘hold’ with an average target price of $80.31.

Despite reports of a £900 million bid from GVC, and the reaffirmation of a ‘buy’ rating from Canaccord Genuity, Bwin.Party Digital took a tumble this morning, slipping by around 2% as Wednesday continued. Investors are clearly waiting for some firmer news before pouring into the much speculated about betting company.

Barclays was a big mover this morning, jumping over 3% on the news that CEO Antony Jenkins has been sacked by the bank’s board, lifting the company away from yesterday’s 2 month lows. Reports of displeasure of the speed of the bank’s cost cutting activities, and the ramifications this was having for the Barclays’ efficiency.


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