CVS Blames Nasty Weather for Profit Miss

Retail

Published: May 2, 2014 8:05 am

Last Updated: April 27, 2020 7:53 pm

CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS) reported first-quarter 2014 earnings before markets opened on Friday. The pharmacy benefits management and retail sales firm posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.02 on revenues of $32.7 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $0.83 on revenues of $30.76 billion. First-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.04 and $32.31 billion in revenues.

For the full year, the company affirmed previous guidance for adjusted EPS in the range of $4.36 to $4.50, including the effect of a $4 billion share buyback. For the second quarter, CVS forecasts EPS in a range of $1.08 to $1.11. Consensus estimates call for full-year EPS of $4.47 on revenues of $132.88 billion and second-quarter EPS of $1.09 on revenues of $33.02 billion.

The company’s CEO said:

We once again posted a very strong quarter, with solid results across the enterprise. Adjusted EPS increased 22.5%, to $1.02, which was a penny below our expectations primarily due to the significant amount of unforeseen weather-related issues we experienced throughout the quarter.

Same-store pharmacy sales rose 3.8% year-over-year in the quarter, while front store (non-pharmacy) sales were down 3.8%. The company said that it lost about 180 to 200 basis points in prescription volume due to harsh weather and about 80 basis points in front of store sales due to the timing of the Easter holiday. A lighter flu season also cut 140 to 160 basis points from front of store sales. In its benefits management business, CVS’s revenues rose 10.3% mainly due to the acquisition of a drug distribution company and drug cost inflation, new products, and new clients.

Just before CVS reported fourth-quarter earnings, the firm said it would end cigarette sales in all its stores by October, costing it about $2 billion sales. The company did not mention this again in its first quarter report, but with front-store sales down 3.8% perhaps something other than the weather could have been responsible.

The company’s shares closed up 0.5% on Thursday night at $73.09. Shares traded down about 0.9% in Friday’s premarket, at $72.40 in a 52-week range of $55.61 to $76.36. The consensus target price for the shares was around $78.20 before this report.

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