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Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) Slipped on Earnings Miss and Guidance Reduction

Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Appreciation Fund” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The bull market surged in the second quarter, driven by investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI)-themed stocks. This narrow, momentum-driven rally helped the S&P 500 achieve a modest gain, despite declines in Mid- and Small-Cap companies. The Ariel Appreciation fund fell -6.56% in the quarter, trailing the -3.40% and -3.35% returns of the Russell Midcap Value and Russell Midcap indices. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.

Ariel Appreciation Fund highlighted stocks like Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) is a healthcare, pharmacy, and retail company that operates through U.S. Retail Pharmacy, International, and U.S. Healthcare segments. The one-month return of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) was -20.39%, and its shares lost 63.09% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 27, 2024, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) stock closed at $9.45 per share with a market capitalization of $8.158 billion.

Ariel Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Alternatively, shares of retail drugstore operator, Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA), underperformed following an earnings miss and significant reduction to full year guidance, largely due to continued weakness in its U.S. retail business. In response, management announced a multi-year plan for the U.S. business to reduce the retail footprint, invest in the customer experience, align the retail and healthcare businesses for enhanced go-to-market capabilities and simplify the healthcare portfolio. Meanwhile, the company continues to execute on its cost savings initiatives to optimize profitability and is using excess capital to prioritize the sustainability of its operations and balance sheet. Over the medium-term, we expect a re-rating in shares as WBA’s new CEO rebuilds the leadership team and earns credibility by executing on previously articulated strategic imperatives as well as margin.”

A pharmacist discussing the health benefits of a prescription medication with a customer.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 35 hedge fund portfolios held Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) at the end of the second quarter which was 41 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we discussed Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA) and shared the list of the best dividend stocks under $50. The performance of Ariel Appreciation Fund in the first quarter was adversely affected by Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (NASDAQ:WBA). In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.

The $250 Trillion AI Hype is Real. A few years from now, you’ll probably wish you’d bought this stock.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

When Jeff Bezos said that one breakthrough technology would shape Amazon’s destiny, even Wall Street’s biggest analysts were caught off guard.

Fast forward a year and Amazon’s new CEO Andy Jassy described generative AI as a “once-in-a-lifetime” technology that is already being used across Amazon to reinvent customer experiences.

At the 8th Future Investment Initiative conference, Elon Musk predicted that by 2040 there would be at least 10 billion humanoid robots, with each priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

Do the math. According to Musk, this technology could be worth $250 trillion by 2040.

Put another way, that’s roughly equal to:

  • 175 Teslas
  • 107 Amazons
  • 140 Metas
  • 84 Googles
  • 65 Microsofts
  • And 55 Nvidias

And here’s the wild part — this $250 trillion wave isn’t tied to one company, but to an entire ecosystem of AI innovators set to reshape the global economy.

It’s a leap so massive, it could reshape how businesses, governments, and consumers operate worldwide.

Even if that $250 trillion figure sounds ambitious, major firms like PwC and McKinsey still see AI unlocking multi-trillion-dollar potential.

How could anything be worth that much?

The answer lies in a breakthrough so powerful it’s redefining how humanity works, learns, and creates.

And this breakthrough has already set off a frenzy among hedge funds and Wall Street’s top investors.

What most investors don’t realize is that one under-owned company holds the key to this $250 trillion revolution.

In fact, Verge argues this company’s supercheap AI technology should concern rivals.

Before I reveal the details, let’s talk about how some of the richest people on the planet are positioning themselves.

  • Bill Gates sees artificial intelligence as the “biggest technological advance in my lifetime,” more transformative than the internet or personal computer, capable of improving healthcare, education, and addressing climate change.
  • Larry Ellison — through Oracle, is spending billions on Nvidia chips and partnering with Cohere to embed generative AI across Oracle’s cloud and apps.
  • Warren Buffett — not known for tech hype — says this breakthrough could have a ‘hugely beneficial social impact.

When billionaires from Silicon Valley to Wall Street line up behind the same idea — you know it’s worth paying attention to.

Even as we admire what Tesla, Nvidia, Alphabet, and Microsoft have built, we believe an even greater opportunity lies elsewhere…

But the real story isn’t Nvidia — it’s a much smaller company quietly improving the critical technology that makes this entire revolution possible.

And judging by what I’m hearing from both Silicon Valley insiders and Wall Street veterans…

This prediction might not be bold at all:

A few years from now, you’ll wish you’d owned this stock.

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Wall Street calls this $3 stock a “Melting Ice Cube.” They said the same thing about BTI before it returned 90%.

Dr. Inan Dogan

Dr. Ian Dogan

Co-Founder and Research Director at Insider Monkey

My name is Inan Dogan. I’m the co-founder and Research Director of Insider Monkey. I have an important message for you today.

Since March 2017, my stock picks have returned 16.5% annually. Today, I’ve found an opportunity even bigger than my British American Tobacco call.

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We looked under the cover and realized they were wrong.

We alerted our subscribers, and BTI returned 90% in just 16 months.

Now if you had invested just $10,000 in BTI in June 2024, you’d be sitting on $19,000 in October 2025.

Today, we have identified a nearly identical pattern in a digital-first giant trading at $3.

While the market panics over a surface-level revenue decline, our PhD-led research shows management has actually surgically cut $100 million in waste to focus on high-margin growth.

This pattern is a hallmark of our 16.5% annual return track record. The current opportunity offers a 400% upside potential—dwarfing even our 90% BTI return.

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