Overview

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (“Walgreens” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: WBA) and certain of the Company’s current and former senior executive officers alleging violations of the federal securities laws.  The Walgreens class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Walgreens common stock between July 1, 2021, and June 26, 2024, both dates inclusive (the “Class Period”).  Investors have until November 18, 2024, to seek appointment as lead plaintiff of the Walgreens class action lawsuit.

Walgreens is one of the largest providers of retail, pharmacy, and healthcare services in the world, operating in three business segments: U.S. Retail Pharmacy; International; and U.S. Healthcare.  In the years leading up to the Class Period, and in the wake of competitor CVS Health Corporation completing its 2018 acquisition of Aetna to become one of the largest healthcare giants in the world, Walgreens began a transition to become a healthcare company rather than just a retail pharmacy.  Walgreens’ transition to a healthcare model was spurred in part by the Company losing in-store sales of drugs and convenience products to online shoppers.

In 2019, Walgreens announced it was collaborating with VillageMD on a trial period during which VillageMD would operate state-of-the-art primary care clinics next to five Walgreens stores in the Houston area, with the first locations scheduled to open by the end of 2019.  By July 2020, following a highly successful trial begun the year before, Walgreens announced a new agreement and expanded partnership with VillageMD whereby Walgreens would become the first national pharmacy chain to offer full-service doctor’s offices co-located at its stores at a large scale.”  Specifically, the expanded partnership would open 500 to 700 VillageMDs at Walgreens’ physician-led primary care clinics in more than 30 U.S. markets in the next five years, with the intent to build hundreds more thereafter.  Under the terms of Walgreens’ new agreement with VillageMD, Walgreens would invest $1 billion in equity and convertible debt in VillageMD over the next three years and hold an approximately 30% ownership interest in VillageMD at the completion of the investment.

The Walgreens class action lawsuit alleges that Defendants, throughout the Class Period, made materially false and/or misleading statements and failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, including that: (1) despite repeated assurances, Walgreens was not disciplined about deploying capital to grow the U.S. Healthcare segment and did not know how to work with and scale the VillageMD model; (2) Walgreens was not able to profitably scale VillageMD to support the Company’s long-term growth initiatives; (3) Walgreens’ rollout of VillageMD clinics was not going according to plan; (4) Walgreens’ U.S. Healthcare segment was experiencing slower growth than expected because Walgreens had oversaturated markets with VillageMD clinics, leading these newly created medical clinics to be understaffed and see fewer patients; (5) Walgreens executives had failed to manage investor expectations regarding the negative impact that the VillageMD expansion would have on Walgreens’ short-term profits, the overstatement of the value of VillageMD, and the risk that the Company would be forced to divest part or all of its stake in VillageMD; and (6) as a result of the above, Defendants’ statements about Walgreens’ business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times .

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If you purchased or otherwise acquired Walgreens common stock between July 1, 2021, and June 26, 2024, both dates inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this lawsuit, we encourage you to submit your information to DiCello Levitt LLP via the form on this page. 

You can also contact DiCello Levitt partner Brian O’Mara by calling (888) 287-9005 or at [email protected]. 

The deadline to apply to the Court to serve as a lead plaintiff in the Walgreens class action lawsuit is November 18, 2024.