Walgreens Q1 2025 earnings preview: Here’s what to expect

Walgreens Shoe Alliance (World Boxing Association) is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter 2025 earnings results on Friday that are largely expected to be in line with expectations.

First-quarter revenue is estimated at $37.3 billion, while earnings per share are estimated at $0.38, according to Bloomberg.

Investors are looking forward to hearing updates on potential acquisition talks with Sycamore Partners, which have been ongoing since December.

JPMorgan analyst Lisa Gill wrote in a note to investors on Monday that there was unlikely to be an update on Friday and that she was instead focusing more on the cost-saving strategy the company has implemented since CEO Tim Wentworth took over in 2023. .

“We expect there will be questions about the earnings announcement, but at this point we are skeptical that management will provide much comment. As a result, we believe the strategic focus that management will describe will be much greater on store closings and cost-saving programs,” Gill wrote.

Other areas to watch are the company’s prescription volume, more store closings, and VillageMD’s performance. Store sales, an area that has been weak for the industry for years, are expected to continue to weigh on the company’s earnings in the new year.

“Weak front-end is not a new trend for the WBA, recent quarters have seen promotional activity deployed by the WBA, and our review of Bloomberg Card data indicates that negative (year-on-year) declines continued through the first quarter of 2025,” he wrote. Gill: “YoY decline is worse than 4Q24 Given the backlog in retail pharmacy gross margins, we expect gross margins to remain weak with front-end growth not improving.”

Anjali Khimlani He’s Yahoo Finance’s chief health correspondent, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and policy. This includes GLP-1 devices, of course. Follow Anjalee on social media platforms X (Twitter), LinkedIn Bluesky @AnjKhem.

Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest health industry news and events impacting stock prices.