Walgreens Boots Alliance

RANK19

The drugstore giant endured a challenging 2019. CEO Stefano Pessina described the second quarter as the “most difficult” since the company's 2014 aquisition of European pharmacy group Alliance Boots. While full-year sales rose 4% to $137 billion, the company’s stock declined 14%—the worst performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. Diminished profits from generic drug sales and increased competition from the likes of Amazon and Walmart have challenged the drugstore giant. The company is countering by closing hundreds of stores to cut costs and striking more than a dozen strategic partnerships with companies including Microsoft and Kroger, as well as with Alphabet’s drone delivery service, Wing.