12:41 PM EST, 01/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ) on Friday reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results buoyed by sales growth across its divisions, while the drugstore chain reiterated its full-year earnings outlook amid a challenging US retail environment.

Adjusted earnings decreased to $0.51 a share for the quarter ended Nov. 30 from $0.66 the year before due to lower retail sales in the US and prior-year sale-leaseback gains, according to the company. The consensus on Capital IQ was for normalized EPS of $0.38. Sales advanced 7.5% to $39.46 billion, topping the FactSet-polled view of $37.4 billion.

Walgreens' shares jumped 24% in midday trading.

"We've started the fiscal year by making progress against our financial and strategic priorities, despite the challenging backdrop for our consumer," Chief Executive Tim Wentworth said during an earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. "Our operating earnings in the period were driven by cost management initiatives and relative strength in our US pharmacy services businesses, offsetting weakness in our front end retail business as we work to respond to changing consumer behavior."

Revenue in the US retail pharmacy segment improved 6.6% to $30.87 billion, while comparable sales climbed 8.5%. Same-store pharmacy sales gained nearly 13%, benefiting from higher branded drug inflation and prescription volume, Walgreens said. Retail revenue and the category's comparable sales logged declines, reflecting a weaker cough-cold-flu season and lower discretionary sales.

International sales rose 10% to $6.43 billion amid a currency tailwind of 3.6%. The US healthcare division logged revenue of $2.17 billion, up from $1.93 billion in the prior-year quarter, according to the company.

Walgreens continues to project adjusted EPS in a range of $1.40 to $1.80 for fiscal 2025. The company forecasts lower contributions from sale-leasebacks and drug wholesaler Cencora, in which Walgreens holds a 10.3% stake, according to Capital IQ data. The Capital IQ consensus indicates normalized EPS of $1.54.

"Our priority for fiscal 2025 is to stabilize our core performance while we make progress on the longer term strategic and operational turnaround," Chief Financial Officer Manmohan Mahajan said on the call. "While the first-quarter results are encouraging, we are maintaining our guidance range considering the challenging US retail environment."

The company now expects retail same-store sales to be down 4% to 5% for the ongoing fiscal year, compared with its previous guidance for a 2% to 3% decline, Mahajan told analysts.

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