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Forbes
04-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The 106 Best 4th Of July Sales To Shop Now, Vetted By Our Deals Team
Independence Day is here, and the 4th of July sales are booming. Our seasoned deals team is tracking the best discounts from our favorite retailers, including exclusive coupons for Forbes readers. For those in the market for a new mattress, use our code FORBES27 to take 27% off Helix's best-selling designs (and there are dozens of other mattress deals to be had as well). Other notable savings include up to 60% off patio furniture from Pottery Barn and up to 50% off outdoor gear at REI. The best 4th of July sales include steep discounts on travel essentials, tech, home goods, fashion ... More and more. ILLUSTRATION: FORBES / PHOTO: RETAILERS To compile this guide, we pieced through hundreds of deals across mattresses, home and kitchen, tech, fashion, gear, beauty and travel to find the best markdowns happening today. We also routinely update this list to make sure we continue to feature the top offerings as the holiday weekend unfolds. Read on for over 100 of the best 4th of July sales worth shopping now, vetted and verified by our team. Best Mattress Sale : Save up to 60% on mattresses at DreamCloud and get $599 worth of accessories included with your purchase. : Save up to 60% on mattresses at DreamCloud and get $599 worth of accessories included with your purchase. Best Bedding Sale : Get up to 20% off sitewide and up to 50% off bundles at Brooklinen. : Get up to 20% off sitewide and up to 50% off bundles at Brooklinen. Best Furniture Sale : Pottery Barn is offering up to 60% off select furniture and bedding. : Pottery Barn is offering up to 60% off select furniture and bedding. Best Outdoor Furniture Sale : Take up to 50% off outdoor pieces at Wayfair, including sectionals, lounge chairs and more. : Take up to 50% off outdoor pieces at Wayfair, including sectionals, lounge chairs and more. Best Appliance Sale : Save hundreds on brands like Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung and more at Lowe's. : Save hundreds on brands like Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung and more at Lowe's. Best Clothing Sale : Get up to 40% off select full-priced items and take up to 70% off select clearance items at : Get up to 40% off select full-priced items and take up to 70% off select clearance items at Best Gear Sale : Save on men's and women's apparel, outdoor gear and more from REI's deals section. : Save on men's and women's apparel, outdoor gear and more from REI's deals section. Best Tech Sale : Amazon is offering hundreds of deals on devices from Samsung, Toshiba, Ring, Dyson and more. : Amazon is offering hundreds of deals on devices from Samsung, Toshiba, Ring, Dyson and more. Best Beauty Sale : Sephora is running sales on dozens of popular brands, including Ouai, Saie, Dr. Jart+ and Phlur. : Sephora is running sales on dozens of popular brands, including Ouai, Saie, Dr. Jart+ and Phlur. Best Travel Sale: Samsonite is offering up to 40% off sitewide. DreamCloud: Take up to 60% off all of DreamCloud's memory foam and hybrid designs. Big Fig: Take 25% off one of Big Fig's mattresses for its 4th of July Sale with code FIREWORKS . . Nectar: Save up to 50% on mattresses and up to 66% on bundles right now. Birch: Use code FORBES27 to get 27% off sitewide and receive two free Eco-Rest Pillows with any mattress purchase. to get 27% off sitewide and receive two free Eco-Rest Pillows with any mattress purchase. Tempur-Pedic: Save $500 on all sizes of the Tempur-Breeze cooling designs and up to 20% on a Tempur-Adapt Topper. You'll also receive a $300 instant gift with a mattress purchase. Save $500 on all sizes of the Tempur-Breeze cooling designs and up to 20% on a Tempur-Adapt Topper. You'll also receive a $300 instant gift with a mattress purchase. Saatva: Save $400 on orders $1,000 or more, including on Saatva's Classic, Countour5 and Memory Foam Hybrid designs. Purple: Score up to $800 off a mattress-and-base bundle right now. Pillows, bedding and bundles are also on sale for up to 25% off. Score up to $800 off a mattress-and-base bundle right now. Pillows, bedding and bundles are also on sale for up to 25% off. Avocado: Get an organic mattress from Avocado for up to 15% off. Mattress Firm: Save up to 70% on select mattresses from Tempur-Pedic, Beautyrest, Sealy and more. Helix: Save 27% across all Helix mattresses with our exclusive code FORBES27. Amerisleep: Take $600 off any mattress with code JULY600. Take $600 off any mattress with code Tuft & Needle: Save 25% on select Tuft & Needle mattresses and 25% off pillows and bedding during its sale. Zoma: Score 30% off all mattresses and get free shipping with code SLEEP30 . . Awara: Save up to 50% on one of Awara's natural models this week, with prices starting at just $549. Casper: Take up to 35% off Casper's best-selling mattresses (and everything else) during its 4th of July sale. Cocoon By Sealy: All of Cocoon's mattresses are 35% off for its 4th of July sale. A free Sealy sleep bundle (up to $199 value) is included with purchase. Leesa: Save 30% on select mattresses and get 25% off bases and select bedding. You can also get 15% off kids mattresses during Leesa's 4th of July sale. Brooklyn Bedding: Get 30% off sitewide and shop our favorite items, including our top pick for the best cooling mattress. Raymour & Flanigan: Save up to 35% on mattresses from brands like Sealy, Nectar, Purple and more. Beautyrest: Save up to $700 on select new and bestselling mattresses and adjustable bed sets. Stearns & Foster: Get up to $600 off a select luxury mattress and receive a $300 Visa gift card with most mattress purchases. WinkBeds: Save $300 on all mattresses from the brand today. PlushBeds: Save up to 50% on organic latex mattresses and up to 25% on mattress toppers. Brooklinen: Take up to 20% off sitewide and up to 50% off a variety of bundle sets featuring sheets, towels and blankets. Take up to 20% off sitewide and up to 50% off a variety of bundle sets featuring sheets, towels and blankets. Wayfair: During Wayfair's sale, you can take up to 50% off furniture and décor, including pieces for your patio. You'll also find deals up to 70% off on items like wall art, storage and more. Pottery Barn: Save up to 60% on indoor and outdoor furniture, bedding and décor. You can also get an additional 20% off select clearance items. The Home Depot: Take up to 50% off home appliances, power tools and more during its 4th of July sale. West Elm: Save up to 60% at the mid-century modern brand right now and get an extra 20% off clearance items. Our Place: Shop select deals on cookware and bakeware sets and save up to $248. Sur La Table: Browse deals on cookware and kitchen tools from brands like Staub, Le Creuset, All-Clad and more. You can also get 20% off your order with code SAVE20 . . Lowe's: Lowe's is offering hundreds off major appliances from brands like Frigidaire, Whirlpool, Samsung and more. Samsung: Take up to $1,800 off Samsung's high-end appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers and microwaves. Burrow: Shop this stylish contemporary designer's 4th of July sale to get 25% off sitewide. Anthropologie: While shopping on the site, you can save up to 4o% on home items. Cozy Earth: Shop select items for up to 40% off and score an additional 10% discount when you purchase three or more items. Kohl's: Shop deals on bedding, appliances and kitchenware for up to 40% off. Target: Save up to 60% on everything, from cookware and ice makers to outdoor furniture and garden accessories. Ruggable: The purveyor of washable rugs is offering up to 30% off select styles this week. The Container Store: Get 25% off sitewide and save up to 30% on Elfa designed spaces and components. RTIC: Score 10% off hard coolers, 15% off soft coolers and 20% off drinkware during RTIC's 4th of July Sale. Frontgate: Take up to 75% off sitewide and free shipping on everything including furniture with code FGJULY4 . . Outer: Save 15% sitewide and shop sofas, dining, fire pits, tables and more. The Company Store: Take 30% off sitewide and save up to 75% on sheets, comforters and more. Coop: Take up to 40% off sitewide on pillows, sheets and bedding, plus get a complimentary silk eyemask with your purchase. Coyuchi: Save up to 60% on sheets, bedding and bathroom essentials during the brand's summer sale. Walmart: Walmart is currently offering over 1,000 tech deals, with one of the best being on the Apple Watch SE. Amazon: Amazon's current assortment of tech deals will help you save up to 50% on devices from Soundcore, JBL, LG and more. Best Buy: The electronics store's early 4th of July sale includes major savings on TVs, laptops and more. Samsung: Take over $1,000 off the popular Samsung Frame TV (among other deals). Jabra: Save 30% on its selection of best-selling earbuds, headsets and more. Lenovo: Lenovo is offering up to 52% off select laptops and accessories. (You can also get an additional tiered discount of up to $100 with code BUYMORELENOVO, depending on how much you spend.) LG: Save up to $1,700 on select TVs during its current sale, including the OLED Evo G4 4K Smart TV. Philips Hue: Create a starter kit to save 20% on your entire smart lighting purchase. GameStop: Enjoy up to 30% savings on select video games, gaming headsets and PowerA accessories. Newegg: Check out this tech retailer's Shell Shocker section to save on items, including HP gaming laptops, Xbox controllers and more. Motorola: Get up to $200 off smartphones—including the Razr+, the Edge+ and the Ultra—during the brand's Start Something Smart Sale. JBL: Take up to 40% off bluetooth speakers, headphones, home audio and more. Anker: Buy two chargers, accessories, bundles and more to get 25% off your purchase or buy three to get 30% off. Ultimate Ears: Get up to $100 off Ultimate Ears water-resistant, floatable, portable speakers. HP: Save up to 61% on select tech items, and take $30 off select printers with your purchase of any PC. Acer: The brand is celebrating Independence Day by offering deals up to $700 off. GoPro: Get up to $100 off select action-ready cameras. Take up to 40% off select full-price items and 70% off clearance items with code EXTRA . . DSW: Get up to 50% off select styles from major brands including Adidas, Brooks, Nike, Columbia and more. You can also take up to 40% off clearance in-store and an additional 10% of clearance online during the Semi Annual Clearance Sale. Abercrombie & Fitch: Get up to 50% off sitewide and an extra 20% off clearance items this week. Lululemon: While Lululemon hasn't dropped a dedicated 4th of July sale, its 'We Made Too Much' section is packed with hundreds of deals. Everlane: Save up to 50% across the retailer's best-selling pants, tops and and footwear. Madewell: Take up to 70% off Madewell's summer wardrobe staples, from bathing suits and biker shorts to tank tops and t-shirts. REI: The retailer's deals section is full of discounts on men's and women's apparel, camping and outdoor gear and more. Nordstrom: Shop top brands for up to 60% off, including Hoka, Nike, Free People and Rothys. Shop top brands for up to 60% off, including Hoka, Nike, Free People and Rothys. Anthropologie: Score an additional 50% off sale items, including dresses, tops, bottoms, accessories and more. Artiza: Shop its summer sale to save up to 50% sitewide from this everyday luxury brand. Naot: Save 20% on the brand's podiatrist-approved sandals for summer. Lands' End: The retailer is offering big discounts: 50% off full-priced items and 60% off clearance items with code BOATDAY. Hoka: Hoka is offering up to 31% off its cult-favorite running and hiking shoes. The brand rarely holds sitewide sales, so shop while stock is still available. Allbirds: Save big on both men's and women's shoe styles from the brand's sale section. Urban Outfitters: Take an extra 40% off all sale items for a limited time. GlassesUSA: Take 40% off sitewide with free shipping to celebrate the 4th of July. Take 40% off sitewide with free shipping to celebrate the 4th of July. Vineyard Vines: The preppy brand is offering tiered savings of up to 75% off sale items. NYDJ: Grab up to 40% off sale styles from this size-inclusive brand with code JULY4 . . Carbon38: Use HAPPY4TH to save 25% off sitewide. You can also take an additional 40% off select sale styles with code EXTRA40 . to save 25% off sitewide. You can also take an additional 40% off select sale styles with code . L'Agence: Save 25% on select full-priced and clearance items during The Summer Sale Event. Mother: Get up to 50% off select men's and women's styles, including tops, denim, jackets and more. Old Navy: Save between 40% and 70% on shorts, t-shirts, swimwear, dresses and more. Macy's: Get up to 60% off swimsuits and coverup, as well as up to 50% sandals during Macy's 4th of July Sale. Athleta: Save up to 70% on activewear and more, plus an additional 30% off sale items. Sephora: Sephora has you covered for all things beauty, and for a limited time, you can save up to 50% during its Major Summer Deals sale. Shop select makeup, hair care, fragrances and more right now. Ulta: Score up to 40% off select beauty items from brands like Shark Beauty, Cosrx and Solawave during Ulta's Big Summer Beauty Sale. Nordstrom: The department store has dozens of deals on beauty favorites at the moment, including the Estée Lauder Double Wear Sheer Long-Wear Foundation. Dermstore: Save up to 40% across Dermstore's sale section on brands like Paula's Choice, Elizabeth Arden and Colorscience. Kosas: Get up to 50% off select skin care and makeup and a gift with purchase. Macy's: Take advantage of hundreds of markdowns on products from Bobbi Brown, Foreo, Tarte and MAC. Target: Save up to 40% off on skincare, haircare and more from brands like K18, Elemis and SkinCeuticals. Fenty Beauty: Discover hidden savings across several popular products, like the Demi'glow Light-Diffusing Highlighter and Pro Filt'r Soft Matte Powder Foundation. Kitsch: Score 28% off everything during Kitsch's July 4th Sale. Shop editor-approved hair perfumes, satin pillowcases, facial tools and more. First Aid Beauty: Use code SUMMER to get 25% off sitewide, including bundles and kits. to get 25% off sitewide, including bundles and kits. Glossier: Take 20% off sitewide or 25% off orders $100 or more. Tarte: Save up to 70% on mascara, lip gloss, eye shadow, concealer and more. Benefit Cosmetics: Save up to 65% during its Summer Beauty Sale. Samsonite: Take up to 40% off sitewide and save on luggage, backpacks and more. Calpak: Save up to 60% on luggage, bags and organizers, including 50% off an Evry Starter Bundle. Away: Get up to 20% off when you bundle luggages, including our editor's favorite Bigger Carry-On. Travel Pro: Take up to $120 off luggages, backpacks and more, with an additional 10% off your first order. Expedia: Save up to 40% on select hotels with Member Prices when you book by July 21 and travel by October 31. Princess Cruises: Save up to $400 on cruises to Alaska, Puerto Rico and more, plus, get the third and fourth guest free. What Usually Goes On Sale On The 4th Of July? During 4th of July sales, you can find discounts and promotions across multiple shopping categories including furniture, mattresses, beauty, clothing and additional summer essentials. That said, we suggest prioritizing any big-ticket items you've been eyeing like mattresses, TVs, furniture and appliances, since you can save hundreds by purchasing them now. When Do 4th Of July Sales Typically End? Fourth of July sales typically end one to two days after Independence Day—July 5 or July 6. The end dates for these sales will vary depending on the retailer, so if there is one you're interested in shopping, be sure to check their site for more information about when it concludes so you don't miss out on these steep savings. Are 4th Of July Sales Better Than Black Friday? While both sales events offer some of the best deals of the year, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Fourth of July sales are great because you can find discounted summer necessities, appliances and more. Black Friday sales tend to feature a broader range of discounted products, with more brands participating in the fall sales event.
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Volatile Stock with Solid Fundamentals and 2 to Brush Off
A highly volatile stock can deliver big gains - or just as easily wipe out a portfolio if things go south. While some investors embrace risk, mistakes can be costly for those who aren't prepared. At StockStory, our job is to help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on the right side of the trade. Keeping that in mind, here is one volatile stock that could reward patient investors and two that could just as easily collapse. Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.85 Often facilitating a treasure hunt shopping experience, Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) is an American discount retailer that sells a variety of products from mobile phone cases to candy to sports equipment for largely $5 or less. Why Is FIVE Not Exciting? Poor same-store sales performance over the past two years indicates it's having trouble bringing new shoppers into its brick-and-mortar locations Smaller revenue base of $4.04 billion means it hasn't achieved the economies of scale that some industry juggernauts enjoy Low returns on capital reflect management's struggle to allocate funds effectively, and its falling returns suggest its earlier profit pools are drying up At $132.95 per share, Five Below trades at 28.4x forward P/E. To fully understand why you should be careful with FIVE, check out our full research report (it's free). Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.12 Spun off from MetLife in 2017 to focus specifically on retail financial products, Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) provides annuity contracts and life insurance products designed to help individuals protect wealth, generate income, and transfer assets. Why Do We Avoid BHF? Insurance products are facing significant market challenges during this cycle as net premiums earned has declined by 2.4% annually over the last five years Efficiency has decreased over the last two years as its pre-tax profit margin fell by 19.5 percentage points Products and services are facing significant credit quality challenges during this cycle as book value per share has declined by 14.9% annually over the last five years Brighthouse Financial is trading at $53.34 per share, or 0.8x forward P/B. Read our free research report to see why you should think twice about including BHF in your portfolio, it's free. Rolling One-Year Beta: 1.15 Started as a hunting supply store, Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) is a retailer that sells merchandise for traditional sports as well as for fitness and outdoor activities. Why Could DKS Be a Winner? Locations open for at least a year are seeing increased demand as same-store sales have averaged 4% growth over the past two years Earnings per share have comfortably outperformed the peer group average over the last six years, increasing by 27.4% annually Industry-leading 24.5% return on capital demonstrates management's skill in finding high-return investments Dick's stock price of $206.23 implies a valuation ratio of 14.1x forward P/E. Is now the time to initiate a position? See for yourself in our comprehensive research report, it's free. Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 9 Market-Beating Stocks. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Comfort Systems (+782% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today for free. Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Find your next big winner with StockStory today Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CarMax First Quarter 2026 Earnings: EPS Beats Expectations
Revenue: US$8.03b (up 6.2% from 1Q 2025). Net income: US$210.4m (up 38% from 1Q 2025). Profit margin: 2.6% (up from 2.0% in 1Q 2025). The increase in margin was driven by higher revenue. EPS: US$1.38 (up from US$0.97 in 1Q 2025). We've found 21 US stocks that are forecast to pay a dividend yield of over 6% next year. See the full list for free. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) surpassed analyst estimates by 18%. Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 1.8% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 5.2% growth forecast for the Specialty Retail industry in the US. Performance of the American Specialty Retail industry. The company's shares are up 5.6% from a week ago. You still need to take note of risks, for example - CarMax has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of. — Investing narratives with Fair Values Vita Life Sciences Set for a 12.72% Revenue Growth While Tackling Operational Challenges By Robbo – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: A$2.42 · 0.1% Overvalued Vossloh rides a €500 billion wave to boost growth and earnings in the next decade By Chris1 – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: €78.41 · 0.1% Overvalued Intuitive Surgical Will Transform Healthcare with 12% Revenue Growth By Unike – Community Contributor Fair Value Estimated: $325.55 · 0.6% Undervalued View more featured narratives — Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Walgreens' lost decade: How M&A mania and retail neglect shrunk a $100 billion giant to a $10 billion private equity gamble
In hindsight, it was an exchange that encapsulated years of shopper an earnings call in January, a Wall Street analyst asked Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Tim Wentworth about his efforts to ease the strain that the U.S. drugstore chain's security measures were putting on its sales. As millions of American shoppers know, and many deeply resent, a great many items in a typical Walgreens are locked up behind glass—obtainable only with help from a clerk. (And, by the way, good luck finding a clerk.) Wentworth responded that countering shoplifting was like 'hand-to-hand combat.' He then made a comment that earned him countless headlines: 'When you lock things up, you don't sell as many of them. We've kind of proven that pretty conclusively.' 'No s–t, Sherlock,' was the general flavor of reactions in countless comment sections, as critics noted that the CEO of the company that owns the eighth-largest U.S. retailer ought to have understood that equation intuitively. Wentworth, a well-regarded executive, went on to explain that the loss to theft was hurting the company's profit too much, hence the draconian lockdowns. But investors' annoyance over his answers pointed to Walgreens' much deeper problems. In 2024, Walgreens drugstores generated non-pharmacy revenue—called 'front-of-store sales' in the industry—of some $27 billion, from items like toothpaste, soda, aspirin, and potato chips; and another $89 billion from filling prescriptions and other pharmacy services. Pharmacy has historically had lower margins than front-of-store, and in recent years, under pressure from insurance companies and rivals, those pharmacy margins have only gotten lower. In the old days, front-of-stores' better profits helped raise overall margins. But alas for Walgreens, its retail business, left on autopilot for years, analysts say, has slipped—and in 2023 and 2024, the company posted a total of $11.7 billion in losses, among the highest totals of any Fortune 500 company. Wentworth will likely soon be spared from having to publicly field any more investor questions. In March, Walgreens Boots Alliance announced that it had reached a deal to be bought by a private equity firm, Sycamore Partners, for $10 billion, in a transaction that will take it off the U.S. stock market after 98 years. The deal is expected to close in late 2025. For Walgreens, going private is the culmination of an epic fall from grace. A decade ago, it was worth $100 billion, riding high on the buzz of a bold albeit controversial merger. But since then, its failings have sent shares down 91%. The company has been weakened by years of bad dealmaking that left it with too many stores; detritus from failed efforts to become a successful player in health care; and a heavy debt burden. In early 2024, Walgreens was removed from the Dow Jones industrial average, a sign of its rapidly declining relevance. Another indignity: In January, Walgreens suspended its quarterly dividend, one it had paid without fail for 91 years, to hold on to desperately needed cash. On the bright side, going private will give the venerable chain's leaders an opportunity to fix its many problems. Since taking the helm in 2023, Wentworth has repeatedly warned investors that many elements of the company need a time-consuming turnaround—from its tired stores, ill-equipped for the e-commerce era, to shrinking reimbursement rates, to demoralized staff. All that work will be more easily and quickly done away from Wall Street's klieg lights. 'It's hard to do under the microscope of quarterly check-ins with the investor community, so hopefully they can get back up there with the hard decisions they're going to have to make,' says Michael Cherny, an analyst at Leerink Partners, an investment bank focused solely on health care. Walgreens has in recent years undone, or is preparing to undo, some of its ill-advised acquisitions. It has already taken a $5.8 billion write-down on its acquisition of primary care provider VillageMD. But such changes leave the company extremely reliant on its core drugstore businesses, selling general merchandise and filling prescriptions, to get out of the hole it has fallen into. Wentworth has won credit from analysts for his early progress in improving Walgreens' cost structure, and his willingness to close money-sapping stores. But Wentworth, or whoever becomes CEO if Sycamore brings in someone else, faces a long, tough slog. (Walgreens declined to make Wentworth available for an interview; Sycamore declined to comment.) 'The next few quarters are about laying bricks, not finishing walls, to set the foundation for the company's next chapter,' Jonathan Palmer, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a research note. Walgreens, the U.S. druggist that is the biggest component of Walgreens Boots Alliance, was founded in 1901 when Chicago pharmacist Charles R. Walgreen bought the store at which he worked. By the time the Great Depression hit, the company was already a 500-store chain with locations far afield from Chicago, many of them anchored by lunch counters whose malted milkshakes and hot meals helped make the chain beloved. Later, Walgreens pioneered features like drive-thru pharmacies and in 1999, an online pharmacy. It also became a front-runner in the pharmacy wars, along with CVS (initially called Consumer Value Stores) and Rite Aid. As these national chains emerged, they absorbed countless local drugstores along the way. By the early 2010s, after years of industry consolidation, CVS and Walgreens were duking it out for the top spot, each with about 10,000 locations at their peak, and Rite Aid a distant third. By that point, the two behemoths, long interchangeable, were going in different directions. Walgreens believed that its scale and its millions of customers gave it clout with pharmacy benefits managers, or PBMs, which function as a type of go-between, negotiating how much patients pay for drugs, what insurers owe drugmakers, and how much pharmacies are reimbursed. It believed that clout would only grow if it continued its drugstore pharmacy land grab. But CVS had already started to pursue ambitions well beyond its drugstore roots. The company bought Caremark, a leading PBM, in 2007 for $21 billion. Seven years later, CVS garnered big headlines when it stopped selling cigarettes and changed its name to CVS Health, making its new orientation unmistakable. It followed that move with several big acquisitions of clinics and specialty pharmacies. While CVS reinvented itself, Walgreens kept fumbling the ball. In 2011, it overplayed its hand in a dispute with Express Scripts, a major PBM, and lost the business of millions of customers for years. That stoked investor interest in a new catalyst for growth and new management. Enter Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina, the largest shareholder in British druggist chain Alliance Boots. In 2012, Walgreens bought a minority stake in Alliance Boots; it then bought the rest of it two years later for $10 billion in all. The deal was something of a reverse merger, with Pessina and his posse becoming CEO and top managers, respectively, of the newly minted Walgreens Boots Alliance. The idea was to create the first ever international drugstore chain operator and drug wholesaling company. And the plan might have worked—had it been executed well. Pessina, an M&A enthusiast (some might even say addict) was still caught up in the Walgreens vs. CVS race to be the chain with the most stores. Not long after the Boots Alliance merger, he set his eyes on Rite Aid, the third-place pharmacy contender, which had been struggling for years under $3 billion debt stemming from a 2006 deal to buy rival chains Eckerd and Brooks. The interest expense had been impeding Rite Aid from investing in keeping stores enticing enough to keep up with its bigger rivals. In 2015, Walgreens made a bid to buy Rite Aid and its 5,000 stores for $9.4 billion. But in a case of antitrust regulators saving a company from itself, the Federal Trade Commission blocked the deal but ultimately allowed Walgreens to buy only 2,100 stores. The result was a larger Walgreens store footprint—but one with tons of overlap, given the proximity of many Rite Aids to nearby Walgreens. Walgreens had bragged for years about having the stores on the best corners. Now it often had two stores within blocks of each other, cannibalizing each other's sales. Last year, Wentworth announced Walgreens would close 1,200 stores out of 8,700. While he didn't specify which ones had been Rite Aid locations, the store closures announcement was a tacit admission that much of the $4 billion Walgreens had plunked down for 40% of Rite Aid's fleet had been a waste of money. Even as Walgreens expanded its store footprint, some analysts were bemoaning the lack of innovation at and updating of its existing fleet. When Walgreens bought Boots, a chain beloved in Great Britain for sleek stores with cool beauty areas and for its No. 7 store brand, it touted how it could borrow from Boots' playbook. But that never took place. 'It was a massive missed opportunity to elevate Walgreens,' says Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. He also sees Walgreens' inertia as contributing to it losing much of its beauty industry market share to Ulta Beauty. For both Walgreens and CVS, retail seemed to become an afterthought by the late 2010s. For both chains, the traditional retail piece should be a bonanza of easy, profitable sales, given how many people come into a Walgreens or a CVS to pick up their prescriptions. And excellent retail in turn should entice people to choose one store over another and visit often. That opportunity is even greater given the ubiquity of their stores: Some 78% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walgreens. But consumers have choices, and Walmart, Amazon, and Target have been more than happy to pick up that casual retail business, given their stronger e-commerce muscles and, Saunders says, much better prices. 'The drugstore is an ecosystem of a number of different parts of the business, from health care to prescriptions to retail, and it only really works if you have all those engines whirring,' says Saunders. 'Both CVS and Walgreens took their eyes off the ball ages ago, and it's had a detrimental impact on their pharmacy businesses.' Both CVS and Walgreens have seen their front-of-store sales struggle for years, aside from a COVID bump fueled by vaccine-driven foot traffic in 2021. But retail is much more important to Walgreens than it is to CVS. (CVS has begun to see improvements in its retail business.) While Pessina doggedly pursued Rite Aid, CVS was head down, continuing to build out its health care empire and buying health insurer Aetna in 2018 for a whopping $69 billion. (That same year, Cigna bought Express Scripts in another megadeal, shelling out $67 billion.) CVS's ownership of Caremark, the biggest PBM in the U.S., had spurred millions of member customers to get their scripts filled at CVS stores, a hold made even stronger with the Aetna deal. (Still, that deal is at the center of CVS's own current travails: Aetna's profitability has sagged because of rising health care costs.) Walgreens did eventually pivot its M&A more toward health care, but to little success. In fact, those deals have weakened it further and were the key reasons behind its stock's implosion. In 2013, in a move that ultimately hurt its reputation, Walgreens made a big investment in the health technology company Theranos, hoping to open dozens of its blood-testing clinics within its drugstores. But Theranos fell apart in scandal as its main product failed amid a fraud scandal. In 2020, Walgreens invested in VillageMD; the next year, it grabbed a controlling stake for $5.2 billion. It is now trying to off-load that network of primary medical care clinics. Also in 2022, under then-CEO Rosalind Brewer, previously of Walmart and Starbucks, VillageMD paid $9 billion for CityMD, another clinic chain, in another deal that has not paid off. Brewer abruptly left Walgreens in 2023, and Walgreens has unwound or is unwinding much of the M&A it has conducted in recent years. Wentworth, who had earlier been CEO of Express Scripts and had a long career as a pharmacy and health care executive, replaced Brewer. Though he didn't have much pure retail experience, he has made clear the caliber of Walgreen's drugstores had to be taken up a notch for the company to emerge from its slump. 'The stores are central to our strategy,' he told a health care conference in March 2024. Wentworth has so far concentrated on cost cutting, with an initial goal of hitting $1 billion in savings, and focused Walgreens on being better at its core pharmacy business. One early move was to announce those 1,200 store closings over three years (some 500 of them are slated to happen this year), on top of the hundreds it has closed in recent years, the better to focus on the 80% of its stores that do turn a profit. Neither Walgreens nor Sycamore has said whether Wentworth will stay on once the take-private deal is done. But it's telling that Wentworth was chosen as CEO despite his inexperience with retail. That suggested that Pessina, who will keep a 17% stake in Walgreens after the Sycamore acquisition, and the rest of the board valued Wentworth's PBM chops as a former PBM CEO himself, above all else. And indeed, those shrinking pharmacy reimbursements have been a major source of Walgreens' malaise. Leerink's Cherny has said that is Walgreens' biggest problem to solve. CVS, tapping its Caremark clout, recently found a promising solution to shrinking pharmacy margins. Starting this year, all commercial prescriptions filled at a CVS will be reimbursed at the cost of the drug plus a predetermined markup and a handling fee. This model is called 'CostVantage,' and Cherny says Walgreens could easily have its own version. 'It wouldn't be at all surprising if Walgreens became a fast follower,' he said. After all, Wentworth knows the PBM world intimately. As for Wentworth's lack of a retail background, this is where Sycamore's extensive expertise in that industry could be useful. Sycamore has a long history of buying distressed retailers and helping them optimize their store operations. It has done so for such retailers as Belk department stores, The Limited, Staples, and Talbots. Walgreens has already taken some encouraging steps on the retail side. It has begun to beef up its roster of store brands with 300 new products; it is also remodeling many drugstores and is offering faster delivery than before. On the pharmacy side, Walgreens is trying to squeeze out costs with initiatives like using automated robotic prescription filling. It hopes to have that service in place by year-end in more than 5,000 of its stores. On the other hand, Sycamore has never done a deal involving health care, raising some concerns about its ability to improve Walgreens' underlying business. Media reports have suggested that Sycamore may break Walgreens into three pieces—its international business, its health care, and its retail—essentially undoing almost all its M&A since the Boots deal. Sycamore, and by extension Walgreens, will be taking on an enormous amount of debt—$12 billion—to make this acquisition happen. (Bloomberg estimates Walgreens could be facing an additional, separate liability of $1.5 billion from the opioid litigation against it; the chain has been accused by a number of state governments and the Justice Department of making millions of illegal opioid prescriptions, accusations it has denied.) Given Rite Aid's recent bankruptcy, its second in consecutive years, because of the combination of deteriorating business and high debt, it's not surprising to hear some alarms about the deal's financing. But bankruptcy theories aside, the even higher debt load and service post transaction certainly mean that Walgreens will have an even smaller margin of error in the near future. 'They haven't really cared for the business internally, and that's led to the crunch they are in now,' says Saunders. It took a little over 10 years for the company to tumble from its Boots-merger heights to its current lows; its leadership probably doesn't have 10 more years to right the ship. 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Williams-Sonoma First Quarter 2026 Earnings: Beats Expectations
Revenue: US$1.73b (up 4.2% from 1Q 2025). Net income: US$231.3m (down 13% from 1Q 2025). Profit margin: 13% (down from 16% in 1Q 2025). The decrease in margin was driven by higher expenses. EPS: US$1.88 (down from US$2.07 in 1Q 2025). We've discovered 1 warning sign about Williams-Sonoma. View them for free. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Revenue exceeded analyst estimates by 3.6%. Earnings per share (EPS) also surpassed analyst estimates by 5.4%. Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 2.5% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 5.0% growth forecast for the Specialty Retail industry in the US. Performance of the American Specialty Retail industry. The company's shares are down 9.2% from a week ago. We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Williams-Sonoma that you need to be mindful of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
