Rite Aid reported earnings per share of 12 cents, beating analysts' forecasts of 7 cents a share.Pedestrians cross a street in front of a Rite Aid store in Oakland, California.Rite Aid's stock surged by about 9% in pre-market trading Thursday after reporting better-than-expected earnings under new CEO Heyward Donigan.
The pharmacy chain's overall sales, however, fell short of analysts' forecasts for its fiscal second quarter for 2020 ended Aug. 31, as did sales as locations open for at least a year. Here's how the company performed compared with what Wall Street expected, based on analysts surveyed by Refinitiv :Revenue: $5.37 billion vs. $5.41 billion expected
Rite Aid updated its full-year forecast, reiterating its revenue guidance of between $21.5 billion and $21.9 billion while lowering its projected earnings. Rite Aid now expects to lose between $235 million and $275 million during fiscal 2020, compared with a net loss of $170.0 million and $220.0 million.
However, it narrowed its adjusted earnings per share forecast. It now expects EPS to range from zero to 56 cents a share. It previously projected EPS to fall between a loss of 14 cents a share to a gain of 72 cents a share.