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Walgreens is the worst performing stock in the S&P 500 this year

Intel. Boeing. Lululemon. Dollar Tree. Paramount. All are having a terrible year, but none are down as much as Walgreens shares.

David Crowther

9/9/24 4:01PM

Updated 9/23/24 9:07AM

Squeezed by the rise of online pharmacies, falling reimbursement rates for prescription drugs, and giants like Amazon eating into their general retail sales, Walgreens investors have had a disappointing year — and nowhere does that show up more clearly than on the ticker tape.

Indeed, Walgreens (WBA) stock has now shed ~64% of its value this year, more than any other in the S&P 500 Index, per data from FactSet. Some shareholders are even suing the company and its management, alleging that they breached their fiduciary duty by inflating Walgreens’ performance projections.

An Rx for Walgreens

So, how does Walgreens turn its ship around? In recent years the company was betting on getting closer to patients, spending more than $5 billion to acquire a majority stake in VillageMD in 2021, as part of an effort to turn its stores into primary-care destinations, as well as just being prescription fillers.

That didn’t really work. Indeed, in June Walgreens announced that it would be cutting its stake in VilageMD, after the company booked an eye-watering $5.8 billion write-down of its value earlier this year. It also said it would begin to dramatically slim its store portfolio, with as many as one-quarter of its 8,600 stores set to close.

But Walgreens’ new CEO, who was appointed last October, doesn’t have the luxury of lots of time on his side. Not just because the company faces a number of headwinds, but because it has billions of dollars of debt.

As of May 31, the company had $703 million of cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet and $8.9 billion of interest-bearing debt.

But it also has hundreds of leases. These are, primarily, agreements for the stores, warehouses, office space, and distribution centers that it rents. Although they aren’t technically “debt,” they can behave a lot like it. And, once included, the company’s financial position looks very different. Indeed, all told, the company reported having “Lease adjusted net debt” of $29.8 billion at the end of May.

Millie Giles

WITHDRAWALS

Bank branches are still closing at breakneck speed in the US

Institutions like Chase and Wells Fargo closed 76 locations in just six weeks over the summer, per the OCC.

Indianapolis - March 2016: Chase Bank III

Nia Warfield

9/9/25

Fox and News Corp slide as investors digest $3.3 billion Murdoch succession settlement

Fox and News Corp shares dropped on Tuesday after Rupert Murdoch’s heirs agreed to a $3.3 billion settlement to resolve a long-running succession drama.

Under the deal, Prudence, Elisabeth, and James Murdoch will each receive about $1.1 billion, paid for in part by Fox selling 16.9 million Class B voting shares and News Corp selling 14.2 million shares. The stock sales will raise roughly $1.37 billion on behalf of the three heirs.

The new trust for Lachlan Murdoch will now control about 36.2% of Fox’s Class B shares and roughly 33.1% of News Corp’s stock, granting him uncontested voting authority over both companies for the next 25 years. Originally, the Murdoch trust was designed to hand over voting control of Fox and News Corp to Prudence, Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James after his death.

Investors are weighing the trade-off. Clear leadership under Lachlan may resolve conflict internally, but the share dilution, executed at a roughly 4.5% discount, means long-term investors now hold slightly less clout than before.

Both companies’ stocks were trading close to all-time highs prior to the announcement.

385 ✈️ 434

Max Knoblauch

9/9/25

Boeing on Tuesday announced that it delivered 57 commercial jets in August, its best total for the month in seven years. That brings its year-to-date delivery total to 385 planes, eclipsing its full-year 2024 figure by about 11%.

The August figure marked Boeing’s second-highest delivery total of 2025 and represented a 43% jump from the same month last year. Through August, Boeing has boosted its deliveries by 50% from last year.

The plane maker is still trailing its European rival Airbus, which delivered 61 planes in August and 434 year to date.

Nia Warfield

9/8/25

Tariffs finally crept into retail's latest earnings results. Who were the winners and losers?

The long-awaited levies took a toll on nearly every retailer, but execution separated who could steer through the costs.