Rite Aid Posts Less-Than-Expected Loss, Shares Jump

by Christopher Freeburn | June 21, 2012 12:08 pm

Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD[1]) posted a loss of $28.1 million during its fiscal first quarter[2]. During the same period last year, the pharmacy chain lost $63.1 million.

EPS for the quarter showed a loss of 3 cents. That beat Wall Street, which was looking for a loss of 4 cents, Reuters noted. Revenue at the chain rose 1.2% to $6.5 billion for the first quarter. That also topped analysts’ revenue forecast of $6.42 billion.

Investors were buoyed by the results, sending Rite Aid shares up 7.9% in Thursday midday trading.

Looking forward, Rite Aid said it anticipated a fiscal 2013 loss of between 13 cents and 29 cents a share. That was down slightly from a prior estimate of a loss between 13 cents and 31 cents a share. The company also pared its sales outlook for the year down from between $25.4 billion and $25.8 billion to between $25.3 billion to $25.7 billion.

The chain says a rising number of generic drugs will lower revenue as generics replace more expensive branded medications.

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