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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA - Free Report) closed at $33.16, marking a -0.69% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.14%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.12%.

Heading into today, shares of the largest U.S. drugstore chain had lost 5.46% over the past month, lagging the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.44% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.29% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from Walgreens Boots Alliance as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be October 13, 2022. On that day, Walgreens Boots Alliance is projected to report earnings of $0.78 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 33.33%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $32.49 billion, down 5.17% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Walgreens Boots Alliance. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.67% lower within the past month. Walgreens Boots Alliance is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Walgreens Boots Alliance has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.26 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 7.26, so we one might conclude that Walgreens Boots Alliance is trading at a no noticeable deviation comparatively.

It is also worth noting that WBA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.45. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.49 at yesterday's closing price.

The Retail - Pharmacies and Drug Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 97, which puts it in the top 39% 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.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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