Rite Aid shares tank 20% to an all-time low: explore why

Rite Aid Corp (NYSE: RAD), on Wednesday, said its net loss nearly doubled on a year-over-year basis in its third financial quarter.

Rite Aid shares down on weak guidance

Shares tanked almost 20% this morning to their all-time low after the pharmacy chain lowered its full-year guidance for the third time.   

Rite Aid now expects per-share loss to be in the range of $2.18 to $1.78 on revenues between $23.7 billion and $24 billion. In comparison, analysts had called for $1.78 a share loss on $23.73 billion in revenue. In the earnings press release, CEO Heyward Donigan said:

For the year, Rite Aid shares are now down roughly 75%.

Rite Aid Q3 financial highlights

• Lost $67.14 million versus the year-ago figure of $36.06 million
• Per-share loss also went up significantly from 67 cents to $1.23
• Adjusted loss was 14 cents a share as per the press release
• Revenue sunk 2.5% on a year-over-year basis to $6.08 billion
• Consensus was 15 cents of adjusted loss on $5.94 billion revenue

Rite Aid reiterated that it’s committed to generating free cash flow in the fiscal 2023. According to the Chief Executive:

Despite historically low valuation, Wall Street has a consensus “sell” rating on Rite Aid shares.