Which of the Top 3 Drug Store Stocks Has the Strongest Earnings Trends?

February 26, 2013

Page 1 of 3

Earnings trends are extremely important when evaluating stocks. At Wall St. Cheat Sheet, we view increasing earnings quarter-over-quarter as a simple way to gauge whether costs and the business model are stable. Then we like to analyze whether the company is outperforming peers in the sector. This is what we call the “E-Squared” investment analysis (‘E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter’ + ‘E = Excellent Relative Performance Versus Peers and Sector’).

Stocks with improving earnings metrics are worthy of your extra attention. Click here to discover our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now!

Here’s your Cheat Sheet to how the top 3 drug store stocks rank via earnings trends:

Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:RAD): Current Price $1.57

Fiscal Year	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
Revenue ($) in millions	24,330	26,290	25,670	25,210	26,120
Diluted EPS ($)	-1.54	-3.49	-0.59	-0.64	-0.43

We note that sales have grown sluggishly at Rite Aid, and loss per share has narrowed a bit in 2012.

These stocks are hitting our Profit Targets. Click here now to discover winning stocks!

Next, our CHEAT SHEET investing framework asks us to drill down to the recent quarterly data:

Quarter	Nov. 30, 2011	Feb. 29, 2012	May. 31, 2012	Aug. 31, 2012	Nov. 30, 2012
Revenue ($) in millions	6,313	7,147	6,468	6,231	6,238
Diluted EPS ($)	-0.06	-0.19	-0.03	-0.05	0.07

Quarterly sales are flat, but finally, Rite Aid has produced a positive quarterly EPS in the latest quarter. We keep this company on our watch-list…

Page 1 of 3

view all

To contact the reporter on this story: staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com To contact the editor responsible for this story: editors@wallstcheatsheet.com