No Earnings Cure at Rite Aid (RAD, WMT, CVS, WAG)

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE: RAD) just can’t seem to get it right.  Whatever the strategy is intended to be doing, it needs a real change in the world of a CVS, Walgreen, and Wal-Mart dominance.  The drug store chain just reported a wider loss than expected and this is getting to be just about enough for even the most patient investors in the world.

The company reported a second-quarter adjust loss of -$0.18 EPS versus Thomson Reuters estimates of -$0.17 EPS.  Revenue was also a tad light for the quarter at $6.16 billion, which is under the estimate of $6.21 billion.  Meanwhile, comparable store sales fell 1.5% in the second quarter.

But wait, there’s more.  The company has lowered its Fiscal-2011 guidance from a loss of -$0.41 to -$0.65 down to a slightly wider loss of -$0.46 to -$0.67.  On the sales front, Rite Aid now expects $25.0 to $25.4 billion from a prior range of $25.2 to $25.6 billion.

Unless the company is announcing a whole new management team and a whole new strategy, this is likely to remain a huge conundrum.  Rite Ad is a stock which could still double, but it could also ultimately end up on the garbage pile.  After years and years, it remains a turnaround which just will not turn around.

JON C. OGG