Rite Aid Q3 strong as revenue jumps 12%

Rite Aid Corp. reported third-quarter revenue and profit that easily beat expectations.

Net income for the quarter ended Nov. 28 fell to $54.1 million, or $0.8 a share, from $53.6 million, or $0.96 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings per share were $0.40, above analysts estimates of $0.02.

Revenue rose 12.0% to $6.12 billion, fueled by expansion in the retail pharmacy and pharmacy services areas and beating estimates of $5.84 billion. Retail pharmacy revenue increased 5.1%, with a 4.3% increase in same-store sales. Pharmacy services revenue jumped 29.2%, primarily the result of an increase of 252,000 Medicare Part D members.

"We are pleased with our third-quarter performance as we continue to grow our business and achieve major physical and digital milestones through our RxEvolution strategy,” said Heyward Donigan, president CEO, Rite Aid. "We officially launched our new brand and logo, made substantial progress in evolving our merchandise mix to an assortment that best supports whole health, refreshed over 700 store exteriors, opened the first three new Store of the Future prototypes and began the integration of our two legacy PBMs. On the digital side, we launched a completely modernized Rite Aid online experience and mobile app and are set to launch our new member portal at Elixir.”