And there is no relief in sight, with generic drug prices failing to recover as competition heats up and heightened public and regulatory scrutiny limits the pace of branded drug price increases.
Evercore ISI analyst Ross Muken said the entire pharma supply chain has felt toxic over the past few months, but pharmacies have been suffering more than most, adding there is very little to get excited about for the foreseeable future. While expectations rapidly declined the last four weeks, these results and the forecast missed the most bearish of predictions, Baird analyst Eric Coldwell said.The company said it would speed up cost cuts, which include shutting stores and consolidating warehouses, to stem some of the losses from the challenging market conditions and expects to save more than $1.5-billion annually by 2022, up from its previous estimate of $1-billion.