Throughout an earnings name Thursday, Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Roz Brewer mentioned the pharmacy retail large plans to accumulate a tech asset because it boosts its ambitions in healthcare.

“We’re making necessary strides and constant progress in constructing our subsequent development engine, the U.S. healthcare phase,” Brewer mentioned on the decision. 

Brewer mentioned Walgreens’ healthcare technique is “coming to life” and is way from the planning phases. It is transferring to implement its imaginative and prescient of consumer-centric, tech-enabled healthcare options.

“We’re previous our peak funding interval at this level. So, we’re happy with the belongings that we’ve. However we stay dedicated to our prior dialog that in all probability our subsequent asset will look one thing like a tech asset,” Brewer famous on the decision.

“We might search one thing that’s at present reaching EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization] as we glance ahead when it comes to the place we might make investments. However when it comes to what we might do subsequent is trying to actually fastidiously tether these belongings collectively. And it lends us to look within the know-how house,” she mentioned.

The corporate has been increasing its main care chain VillageMD, during which it acquired a majority stake final 12 months. Walgreens additionally lately introduced it might speed up its plans to accumulate full possession of residence coordination firm CareCentrix. 

Walgreens posted This autumn income of $622 million for its U.S. healthcare phase, although gross revenue was a lack of $37 million. The corporate did elevate its fiscal 2025 gross sales goal for the healthcare phase to between $11 billion and $12 billion, up from $9 billion to $10 billion beforehand.

THE LARGER TREND

Retail giants are seeing the worth of implementing technology-based healthcare options into their choices.

Rite Aid lately introduced a multiyear know-how partnership with Google Cloud, permitting the pharmacy chain to relocate its key functions to Google Cloud, together with its vaccine scheduling software, buyer messaging infrastructure and digital engagement platform.

Final month, CVS Well being introduced it had signed a definitive settlement to accumulate home health platform Signify Health for about $8 billion.