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Investing.com - Walgreens Boots Alliance (NASDAQ:WBA) posted third-quarter earnings and sales that topped estimates, as cost savings helped to offset front-end sales at the likely soon-to-be private retail pharmacy chain.
The second-largest U.S. pharmacy did not provide financial guidance given its impending takeover by private-equity firm Sycamore Parners.
In March, the two agreed to a $10 billion deal that will see Sycamore take Walgreens private, ending nearly a century of public trading. The transaction is anticipated to close in the third or fourth quarter of the 2025 calendar year, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
Once complete, Walgreens will be delisted from the Nasdaq.
Walgreens was once worth $100 billion a decade ago, but declining drug margins and intense competition from rivals like Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) for shoppers looking to fill prescriptions and pick up cheaper toiletries have weighed on the business.
Under CEO Tim Wentworth, Walgreens has been shuttering thousands of stores in a bid to cut expenses by $1 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share during the period came in at $0.38, down from $0.63 in the year-ago quarter but above Bloomberg consensus estimates of $0.31.
Group-wide sales increased by 7.2% year-on-year to $39 billion, versus analysts’ projections of $36.79 billion.
Shares of Walgreens were slightly higher in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday.