Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA) stock rose 0.93% (As on June 26, 12:08:20 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company beat analysts’ estimates for third-quarter profit, as store closures and cost-cutting aided turnaround efforts at the second-largest U.S. pharmacy chain. The company in March agreed to be taken private by Sycamore Partners for $10 billion, a fraction of the $100 billion the U.S. pharmacy chain was worth a decade ago. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Walgreens’ focus on its pharmacy operations, when rivals diversified into insurance and pharmacy benefit management, has weighed on its fortunes as the industry has struggled with persistently low drug reimbursement rates. The company took a $5.8 billion impairment charge on VillageMD last year and said it was exploring options for it, including a sale. Net cash provided by operating activities was $584 million in the third quarter, a $20 million decrease compared with the year-ago quarter. Operating cash flow in the current quarter was negatively impacted by $252 million of legal payments primarily related to opioid-related settlements. Free cash flow was positive $336 million, a $2 million improvement compared to the year-ago quarter.

WBA in the third quarter of FY25 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of 34 cents. The strong earnings underscore CEO Tim Wentworth’s efforts to turn around the pharmacy chain through measures such as the removal of multiple mid-level executives, a $1 billion cost-cutting exercise and plans to close thousands of underperforming stores. U.S. retail pharmacy unit reported sales of $30.71 billion for the quarter ended May 31, beating analysts’ estimates of $29.01 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Same-store sales at the unit increased 10.3% in the quarter. Third quarter sales increased 7.2 percent year-over-year to $39.0 billion, up 6.9 percent on a constant currency basis. Adjusted operating income was $558 million compared to adjusted operating income of $613 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating income and adjusted operating income2 reflect higher incentive accruals, lower U.S. retail sales and lower equity earnings in Cencora, partly offset by growth in U.S. Healthcare and cost savings within U.S. Retail Pharmacy. Adjusted net earnings in the third quarter was $334 million, a decrease of $211 million compared to adjusted net earnings of $545 million in the year-ago quarter, down 39.3 percent on a constant currency basis.

The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 35.9 percent to $2.48 billion in the third quarter of FY25, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $2.47 billion.