Rite Aid Shares Jump On Earnings Beat

Rite Aid Corp. reported Thursday net income increased six-fold in its recently ended quarter, on sales gains in both the pharmacy and front-end sections of its stores. The company's EPS of $0.04 on profits of $19.5 million handily exceeded Thomson Financial consensus analyst estimates of an EPS loss of $0.01; net was $3.2 million in the year earlier period. Sales rose 3% to $4.46 billion; Thomson consensus estimates called for revenue of $4.67 billion. The U.S.' third largest drugstore chain reported same store sales grew 2.3%, buoyed by a 2.7% gain in its pharmacy business. Prescription sales, which rose 1%, account for 64% of the company's total sales. The company maintained its FY2008 sales guidance in a range of $25.3 billion - $26 billion. Chairman, President and CEO of Rite Aid Mary Sammons: "Our team continued to do a good job of controlling operating expenses." Shares jumped $0.33, 5.37%, to $6.48 in pre-market trading as of 8:05 a.m. EST.

Sources: Press Release, AP, Reuters, MarketWatch [check back later today for RAD's most recent conference call transcript]
Commentary: Is Rite Aid Heading in the Right Direction? • Cramer's Take on RAD
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Rite Aid Corporation (RAD). Competitors: CVS Caremark Corporation (CVS), Walgreen Company (WAG), Wal-Mart (WMT)
Conference call transcripts: Rite Aid F4Q07 (Qtr End 3/3/07) Earnings Call Transcript

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