High demand for Covid boosters helps Walgreens boosts earnings beyond expectations

During the winter months, the sale of Omicron boosters and tests increased a lot, due to which the eCommerce sales of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the US have increased 38% in the fiscal second quarter. While the UK-based stores gained over 22% earrings, the same-store sale in the US has seen a 14.7% increase. This is because almost 3.9 million pick-up orders are delivered this quarter.

What did the company CEO say?
As per the company CEO, Roz Brewer, this boost in sales is from every category, especially wellness and health products, including over-the-counter drugs for flu, cold, and cough, and test kits.


He also said that Walgreens had acquired most of the stakes from a primary care company, VillageMD, and they are planning to open more than 100 doctor offices within Walgreens's premises.

Moreover, as Walgreens' earnings and boosters lifted sales, they have also decided to turn a particular part of some stores into a health corner. Here, a nurse or pharmacist will be available to help people in medical consultation.

Also, the company is arranging automated facilities, like robots, to fill up the prescriptions. This way, the pharmacist will be free to handle more patients in a short time.

Only in the second quarter, they have sold 11.8 million Covid vaccines, making it 62.8 million vaccines till now.

The FDA has announced the fourth shot for Covid for people aged 50 or above or those who are immunocompromised, which will again add to the benefits of this drugstore chain. Their CEO also said that they still have not confirmed what to do with the UK stores as their primary focus is to increase sales in all of the United States.

As the market closed on 30th March, their share value dipped 9%, closing at $47.46, which makes the company's market value $40.97.