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Walgreens tops estimates as the embattled pharmacy chain sees a pickup in US pharmacy sales

Shares of Walgreens jumped nearly 3% on Tuesday after the troubled pharmacy giant managed to top Wall Street's Q2 estimates. Walgreens’ earnings per share came in at $0.63, well ahead of FactSet estimates of $0.53.

Revenue was also in line with expectations, reaching $38.59 billion. Sales topped 4%, thanks to a pickup in demand at its US retail pharmacy chains and international businesses. Walgreens also slashed net losses nearly in half to $2.8 billion, down from $5.91 billion in the same quarter last year.

Despite the latest beat, Walgreens’ shares have plummeted recently as the company struggles to compete with rivals like CVS and Amazon. Last month, the beleaguered pharmacy chain agreed to be sold to private equity firm Sycamore for $10 billion in a deal that’s set to close by Q4 this year.

Walgreens shares are down 44% over the past year.

Revenue was also in line with expectations, reaching $38.59 billion. Sales topped 4%, thanks to a pickup in demand at its US retail pharmacy chains and international businesses. Walgreens also slashed net losses nearly in half to $2.8 billion, down from $5.91 billion in the same quarter last year.

Despite the latest beat, Walgreens’ shares have plummeted recently as the company struggles to compete with rivals like CVS and Amazon. Last month, the beleaguered pharmacy chain agreed to be sold to private equity firm Sycamore for $10 billion in a deal that’s set to close by Q4 this year.

Walgreens shares are down 44% over the past year.

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Retail traders are “skipping the dip” this time

Here’s one noteworthy feature of the recent market downturn that has the S&P 500 poised for its worst week since reciprocal tariffs were announced in early April: retail traders seemingly aren’t eager to buy the weakness in single stocks the way they used to be.

JPMorgan strategist Arun Jain has flagged that retail traders instead appear to be “skipping the dip.”

“In contrast to the behavior observed during the post-Liberation Day selloff, retail investors did not seize the opportunity to buy-the-dip on Tuesday, with a few exceptions such as META,” he wrote of the day where the benchmark US stock index fell 1.2%. “In fact, they scaled back their ETF purchases and turned net sellers in single stocks.”

Then on Thursday, when the S&P 500 fell 1.1%, Jain projected that retail traders sold $261 million in single stocks. Through noon ET on Friday, his daily outflow estimate stands at $851 million.

With that intel, it’s little wonder why the carnage this week has been particularly intense in more speculative single stocks that had been favored by the retail community, including IREN, IonQ, Rigetti, Cipher Mining, Bloom Energy, and Oklo.

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Archer Aviation plunges on $650 million share sale following its third-quarter results

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation is deep in the red on Friday morning after reporting its third-quarter results after the bell Thursday. The stock is down more than 12%.

Investors don’t appear to be thrilled about the company’s $650 million direct stock offering, announced alongside its results.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

The move marks at least the third major equity raise, and dilution, for Archer this year. The company raised $300 million from a new stock sale in February, and sold $850 million worth of shares in June.

On Archer’s earnings call Thursday, interim CFO Priya Gupta said the company came to the decision after “substantial inbound interest.” According to Gupta, the company has heard from government and commercial partners that liquidity is a “key driver to their decisions of who to partner with.” With its latest share sale, Archer said its total liquidity is more than $2 billion.

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