Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc

Walgreens Boots Alliance is off to a strong start to the year with growth in first-quarter sales and adjusted earnings, a performance that was beyond Wall Street experience. The company had a particularly strong quarter online, which includes purchasing online pickup in-store. Interestigly, the company’s measurement of the Covid-19 impact shows that footfalls are around 20% less than pre-Covid levels. However, a continued strength is seen in the basket size. Boots.com is continuing to perform quite well. Digital sales doubled and accounted for over 15% of the overall sales. It is worth highlighting that Walgreens has successfully administered more than 9 million Covid vaccines. The diagnostic and testing business of Walgreens also accelerated. Strong sales growth was offset partially offset by higher shrink costs and lower reimbursement. The vaccination of flu was also up in the quarter. The management delivered a key update in the form of its partnership with Adobe Expand for accelerating the healthcare and shopping experience more personalized and engaging for the customers. Another major update was Walgreens acquiring 100% ownership of both its German wholesale JV and AllianceRx Walgreens Prime. We provide the stock of Walgreens Boots Alliance with a ‘Hold’ rating with a revision in the target price.