09:20 AM EDT, 04/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We cut our 12-month target price by $4 to $11, 6.6x our FY 25 (Aug.) EPS estimate, a discount to its historical forward average due to challenging market conditions. We lift our FY 25 EPS forecast to $1.66 from $1.53 and FY 26's to $1.49 from $1.44. Adj. EPS of $0.63, vs. $1.20, was $0.11 above consensus driven by a stronger-than-expected top line. Q2 FY 25 sales increased 4.1% Y/Y due to strength in the U.S. Retail Pharmacy segment, which saw comparable sales growth of 8.2% Y/Y from higher branded drug inflation and Rx volume. The U.S. Healthcare segment showed signs of improvement, with adj. EBITDA rising to $158M from $17M Y/Y. WBA took a sizable impairment of $4.2B (~5% of total assets as of Q1). Further, WBA's financial position remains under pressure, with FCF of -$418M for the quarter, up from -$610M in Q2 FY 24. We expect Sycamore Partners' acquisition of WBA to close in Q4 CY 25. Operating as a private company may provide WBA with more flexibility to properly execute its turnaround strategy.