By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD) tumbled 20% after warning that a soft flu season and the ongoing pandemic could hit its fiscal 2021 bottom line.
Rite Aid Corporation estimated the unanticipated impact on fourth quarter results of between $50 million and $60 million, with cough, cold and flu-related product categories down almost 37%. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the fiscal year ended Feb. 27 is expected at between $425 million to $435 million, down from a previous forecast of $490 million to $520 million.
Bad weather also disrupted the supply chain and depressed sales, Chief Executive Officer Heyward Donigan said in a statement.
Rival Walgreens traded down by more than 2%, while CVS shares traded slightly lower. Higher expenses due to a one time hero-pay bonus, cleaning costs, pandemic sick leave and other incremental operating costs also hurt results. On the upside, fewer people have suffered and died of the flu.
“Looking ahead, we have seen acute prescriptions return to positive levels in March, and we are proud to be selected as one of the retail providers administering COVID vaccines in the majority of our key states and cities," Donigan asid. "We are significantly ramping up the number of vaccines we are administering on a daily basis, and have administered approximately 1 million COVID vaccines in March to date."