A huge opioid settlement dragged Walgreens to a $3.7 billion loss for the first quarter, but the drugstore chain still beat Wall Street forecasts.
The company also reaffirmed its earnings forecast for the new year.
Walgreens said Thursday that it recorded a $5.2 billion, after-tax charge in the quarter that ended Nov. 30 for opioid-related litigation.
Walgreens and rival CVS Health Corp. finalized last month a settlement with state and local governments to resolve lawsuits related to opioid abuse. Opioids have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the United States in the past two decades.
Drugstores were subject to claims that they should have realized they were filling too many opioid prescriptions….