Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) is generally not considered a good buy for long-term investors due to ongoing financial struggles, including poor earnings, high debt, and a shift to becoming a private company. While a potential 2025 buyout by Sycamore Partners for $11.45 a share offers a small arbitrage opportunity (approx. 2% gain), this is largely viewed as a high-risk, short-term play.
Walgreens (WBA) has been analyzed by 2 analysts, with a consensus rating of Sell. 0% of analysts recommend a Strong Buy, 0% recommend Buy, 50% suggest Holding, 0% advise Selling, and 50% predict a Strong Sell.
Experts from across the healthcare industry agree that while Walgreens is currently in a grim financial situation, recovery is still possible. To make this happen, the company will have to relinquish its retail clinic dreams and focus more on making its core pharmacy business as efficient as it can.
Sycamore Partners completed its acquisition of Walgreens (WBA) on August 28, 2025. Shareholders of WBA received $11.45 in cash for each share held at the close of trading on August 27, 2025. In addition, each shareholder was granted one non-transferable contingent value right (CVR) per share.
Walgreens is closing about 1,200 underperforming stores over three years, with roughly 500 slated for closure in their fiscal year 2025 (ending August 2025) as part of a cost-cutting "Footprint Optimization Program" due to financial pressures like decreased spending and competition. While a comprehensive list of all locations isn't released, specific closures occurred in cities like San Francisco, Macon, and Brooklyn, with many in May/June 2025, impacting states like California, Illinois, New Jersey, and North Carolina.
Walgreens goes private
Over the last decade, Walgreens has faced significant financial difficulties, seeing its market value drop from over $100 billion in 2015 to below $8 billion in 2024. For the entire 2024 fiscal year, Walgreens reported a net loss of $8.6 billion, almost triple the previous year's loss.
CVS Health (CVS) has been analyzed by 18 analysts, with a consensus rating of Buy. 33% of analysts recommend a Strong Buy, 61% recommend Buy, 6% suggest Holding, 0% advise Selling, and 0% predict a Strong Sell.
CVS CEO stepping down! CVS is in the process of closing 900 stores . Walgreens announced its closing 1,200 locations .
Walgreens: Growth Outlook and Valuation
Revenue is projected to grow 1.9% through 2027. Operating margins are expected to remain near 1.4% Shares trade at 6.7x forward earnings. Based on analysts average estimates, TIKR's Guided Valuation Model using a 6.7x forward P E suggests about $12/share by 2027.
Walgreens' significant decline stems from a mix of failed healthcare ventures (like VillageMD), poor adaptation to e-commerce, intense pharmacy reimbursement pressure, high debt, management missteps, shrinking consumer spending, and intense competition from online players like Amazon and big-box stores, leading to store closures and a dramatic drop in market value, culminating in its decision to go private.
To make $3,000 a month ($36,000/year) from investments, you need a significant lump sum or consistent, high-yield income streams, with estimates ranging from roughly $300,000 at a 12% yield to over $700,000 for stable Dividend Aristocrats, depending on your investment type, dividend yield, risk tolerance, and strategy. A simple formula is: Investment Needed = ($3,000 x 12) / Annual Dividend Yield.
The "Rule of 90" in stocks most commonly refers to Warren Buffett's advice for his wife's inheritance: 90% in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund for growth and 10% in short-term government bonds for stability, designed for long-term investors. However, a more pessimistic "Rule of 90-90-90" suggests 90% of new traders lose 90% of their capital within 90 days, highlighting the high failure rate due to lack of education, emotional trading, and poor risk management.
While Walgreens trades cheaper and has a greater dividend yield, it has worse cash flow and an ongoing need for funding. CVS simply doesn't have this issue, but rather, strong valuation, growth potential and free cash flow.
The 7% sell rule is a stock trading guideline to cut losses quickly, advising you to sell a stock if it drops 7-8% below your purchase price to protect capital, remove emotion, and prevent small losses from becoming catastrophic, a strategy popularized by William O'Neil's CAN SLIM method for growth investing. It assumes that truly strong stocks typically don't fall much below their buy point, so a dip signals something is wrong, requiring you to exit the trade to preserve funds for better opportunities.
Should I buy or sell Walgreens Boots Alliance Stock? Walgreens Boots Alliance holds several positive signals, but we still don't find these to be enough for a buy candidate. At the current level, it should be considered as a hold candidate (hold or accumulate) in this position whilst awaiting further development.
Walgreens shuttered 70 stores nationwide by November 2024 and plans to close more by August 2025. Will the closures affect California stores?