The stock couldn’t hold on to its post-earnings rally, as the threat of online competition came to the fore again.
Shares of beaten-down pharmacy stock Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA -6.89%) sank 7.2% today as of 2:47 p.m. ET.
Walgreens had rallied a bit after recent earnings came in better than expected and the company’s 2025 outlook came in better than feared. However, fears reemerged on Tuesday, when a big, well-funded rival announced it would begin a same-day prescription delivery service.
Can Walgreens survive in the age of online?
Today, Walmart (WMT 1.50%) announced that it was now open for same-day prescription delivery in six states: Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. The company also noted it would soon roll out same-day prescription delivery to all 49 states by January.
The Walmart announcement is just another in a long line of competitive concerns for Walgreens, which is a legacy brick-and-mortar pharmacy retailer. While Walgreens also has delivery options, large tech-forward retailers like Walmart and Amazon are increasingly targeting the pharmacy space and already have big loyalty programs such as Walmart+ and Amazon Prime. Walmart and Amazon also have the ability to deliver a wide variety of other items along with prescriptions, perhaps giving them an advantage in the online space over legacy pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS.
On its recent earnings call, Walgreens investors were encouraged as management unveiled a 1,200-store closure program, which will streamline Walgreens’ costly brick-and-mortar footprint and suggested management knows it needs to modernize.
However, even though Walgreens is making progress in its omnichannel efforts and renegotiating drug reimbursement contracts, the online threat isn’t going away. Online is also especially damaging to brick-and-mortar pharmacies because if consumers start to get more of their prescriptions online, that could limit foot traffic to Walgreens stores and also affect nondrug sales at its pharmacies.
What to do with Walgreens?
Down 58% on the year and trading at just around 6 times next year’s adjusted earnings guidance, Walgreens may seem like a deep value stock. But as today’s news shows, the secular headwinds facing the brick-and-mortar pharmacy business aren’t going away. Therefore, any turnaround would be difficult and time-consuming, if it happens at all.
John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Billy Duberstein and/or his clients has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends CVS Health. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
