Walgreens Boots Alliance reported more than $880 million in quarterly profits as customers continued to get vaccinated and boosted against Covid-19 or tested for the virus.
Walgreens on Thursday said it administered 11.8 million vaccinations and 6.6 million tests in the second quarter ended Feb. 28 of this year. In all, Walgreens has administered more than 62.8 million vaccines and more than 27 million tests to date.
As the pandemic continued its surge into this year and Walgreens fiscal second quarter, the chain continued to benefit from customers seeking vaccinations and booster shots. These customers helped Walgreens achieve U.S. retail comparable sales growth of 14.7%, which company chief executive Roz Brewer said was the “highest in over 20 years.”
“Our leadership in vaccines and testing is just one way that we are becoming the leading partner in reimagining local health care and well-being for all,” Brewer told analysts on a call to discuss earnings.
Total sales were up 3% to $33.8 billion. Meanwhile, net income was $883 million, or $1.02 per share, in the company’s fiscal second quarter compared to $1.03 billion, or $1.19 per share in the year-ago period.
Looking ahead, Walgreens and rival drugstore chain CVS Health are expected to benefit from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization this week for second Covid-19 boosters for people 50 years and older.
Walgreens, though, maintained its full year adjusted earnings guidance of “low-single digit growth.”
