Tepid Full-Year Forecast Sends Walgreens Stock Lower

The equity has failed to make much headway on the charts

Digital Content Manager

Mar 31, 2022 at 9:04 AM

The shares of blue-chip pharmaceutical name Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) are down 2.6% at $46 this morning, even after the company reported a top- and bottom-line beat for its fiscal second-quarter. WBA cited high demand for its Covid-19 tests and vaccines during this winter's omicron variant wave. Walgreens decided to maintain its 2022 outlook, which could be weighing on the stock this morning, adding that it expects low single-digit profit growth for the year.

The stock's 180-day moving average continues to keep a tight lid on the shares, as it's done since WBA's mid-February plummet. The equity is looks ready to turn in a roughly 9% drop for its first quarter of 2021, and it's lost over 10% in the past 12 months.

The brokerage bunch has remained relatively quiet, though the sentiment surrounding WBA was already lukewarm. Of the 21 analysts in coverage, 17 say "hold," compared to just one "strong buy," and three "sell" ratings. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $53.43 is a 14.9% premium to last night's close.

In the options pits, short-term traders have been slightly put-biased than usual. This is per WBA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.69, which sits higher than 72% of readings from the past year.

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