Pharmaceutical retailer CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) said before the open that its second-quarter profit spiked to $720.1 million, or 47 cents per share, more than doubling from last year's profit of $334.4 million, or 40 cents per share. The latest figures edged out analysts' per-share estimates of 46 cents. This report marked the first time that Caremark's results were included for a full three-month reporting period - CVS acquired the pharmacy benefits concern in March.

Revenue surged 95% to $20.7 billion, just above Wall Street's consensus target of $20.6 billion. Same-store sales jumped 5.7%, with pharmacy same-store sales rising 5.7% while sales of "general" items, including candy and cosmetics, were up 5.9%.

Looking ahead, CVS expects the merger to add between eight and 10 cents to full-year 2008 earnings per share, and contribute 14-18 cents in 2009. For the current year, CVS officials project retail pharmacy sales to rise 12%-15%, with full-year earnings per share falling in a range between $1.86 and $1.91.

During the latest reporting period, CVS Caremark opened 37 new stores, closed 15 existing locations, and relocated 30 stores. At the close of the quarter on June 30, there were 6,177 retail pharmacy stores under the CVS umbrella, located in 44 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.