CVS Caremark (CVS), a drugstore chain that competes with Rite Aid (RAD) and Walgreen (WAG), reported earnings for the fourth quarter on Thursday. The market wasn't taken by them. Looking at the extreme right side of the chart, it can be seen that the stock came under some pressure after the release. This afternoon, the shares are under further pressure: at the time of this writing, they were off by 1.1% to $32.55, with heavy volume backing the trade.

Does it sound like the company missed the estimate attached to it? No, that wasn't the problem. According to the Associated Press, adjusted profit came in at 80 cents per share, one penny ahead of the prediction.

Rite Aid's (RAD) sell-off Thursday was almost comical. Sometimes you've just got to laugh when a stock that's trading around a dollar suddenly drops over 13%. That's exactly what the drugstore's shares did by the end of the day's regular session. It finished at a quote of 95 cents. And, as you might expect, volume was pretty significant.

Who buys a stock like this? Clearly, someone braver than me. Adding this one to a portfolio is basically no different than playing the slots in Vegas. The one-year chart hasn't changed much since I discussed the company back in June; it still tells a tale of volatility and downward momentum. It's not a ride I'm willing to take.

CVS Caremark (CVS), a drugstore chain that competes with Rite-Aid Corporation (RAD), Walgreen Company (WAG), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), is acting in a boring way this afternoon. My screen shows, at the time of this writing, the stock down 44 cents, or 1.2%, to $36.64.

That's not too bad for the kind of trading session we're having. I bet CVS would have been up today following its Q1 report had the market action been different. But the tape is the tape, you can do nothing about that. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the company made, on an adjusted basis, 60 cents per share, which was two pennies ahead of estimates.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Acuity Brands Inc. (AYI) Q2 results were essentially flat but an analyst's upgraded helped boost shares.
• Borders Group Inc. (BGP) reported strong Q4 earnings due to cost cutting but revenue continued to decline.
• Cal-Maine Foods Inc. (CALM) received an analyst's downgrade on valuation following release of its Q3 report.
• CarMax Inc. (KMX) rose to a new 52-week high following better-than-expected Q4 earnings and sales results.
• Charming Shoppes Inc. (CHRS) posted a smaller-than-expected Q4 net loss and said same-store sales declined.

Rite Aid (RAD) continues to be a stock that I want to avoid. I know it's risen a lot over the last year, but such price action doesn't sway me in this case.

You've got to be careful when a company reports a loss, even if that loss is narrower than what was reported in the comparable period. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Rite Aid lost 24 cents per share. Last year at this time, the red ink came out to $2.67 per share. Yes, this is a vast improvement; same thing happened in the third quarter back in December of last year.

Walgreen Company (WAG), a drugstore entity whose major competitors are CVS Caremark (CVS), Rite Aid (RAD), and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), reported second-quarter data earlier today; they weren't too thrilling, to be completely honest.

On a reported basis, net income increased three pennies to 68 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, earnings came out to 70 cents per share (this would be after adding back the two pennies dedicated to restructuring charges). Estimates called for 71 cents per share. Poor Walgreen just couldn't keep up with the analysts this time around.

CVS Caremark (CVS), which competes with Walgreen (WAG), Rite Aid (RAD), and Wal-Mart (WMT), posted fourth-quarter data on Monday. Sales increased 7%, and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations (excluding, in addition, a penny per share relating to a tax benefit) came in at 78 cents -- good for a growth rate of over 11%. That bottom-line performance matched analyst projections, according to our earnings preview.

As we all know, matching expectations is sometimes the death of a stock. The market has no conscience when it comes to mercilessly punishing an equity for not going beyond the call of the analysts. However, CVS actually did pretty well yesterday, rising 5% by the end of the session; the move was backed by healthy volume.

CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS), the largest retail pharmacy chain in the U.S., is scheduled to discuss its fourth-quarter financial results in a conference call Monday, Feb. 8, at 8:30 AM (ET). An audio webcast of the call will be available at the company's website.

During the three months that ended in December, CVS announced share buybacks, named a new head of HR and provided H1N1 flu shots nationwide. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are looking for earnings for that period of $0.78 per share. That compares with $0.65 per share in the previous quarter and $0.70 per share a year ago. Revenue for the fourth quarter is expected to be 8.6% higher than a year ago to $26.2 billion.

Drugstore chain Rite Aid (RAD) reported Monday that its same-store sales fell 1.8% in December, marking the seventh consecutive month of declines. Same-store front-end sales dropped 2.3% for the period ended Dec. 26, while pharmacy sales contracted by 1.5%. Total sales pulled back 3% to $2.09 billion.

Pharmacy sales had been fairly resilient of late, but the decline in the most recent month was attributed to the introduction of a growing number of generic drugs. Additionally, the number of prescriptions filled on a same-store basis dropped by 0.2%.

Walgreen (WAG), a drugstore chain that competes with CVS Caremark (CVS) and Rite Aid (RAD), issued fiscal Q1 numbers on Monday. The growth rates were impressive.

Total sales were up 9.5%. Net income increased almost 20% to 49 cents per diluted share. Operational cash flow was higher by over three times. According to our earnings preview, analysts were expecting 48 cents per share. Of course, since there were restructuring charges included in the above per-share profit stat (equal to 3 cents per share), the beat is better than it looks. This was indeed a good quarter.

Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:

• Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) shares rose after lower Q4 earnings and revenue beat analysts' expectations.
• Best Buy Inc. (BBY) shares sold off despite better-than-expected Q3 results due to the lower gross margin.
• Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) warned that Q4 earnings would come in lower than the Street view
• Discover Financial Services (DFS) shares were up after it reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings.
• First Solar Inc. (FSLR) offered a solid 2010 outlook but the consensus EPS estimate is high in the range.
• General Mills Inc. (GIS) strong Q2 results included better-than-expected earnings and a rosy outlook.

According to this summary at Reuters, top-line sales decreased a little under 2%, and the loss per share came in at 10 cents. This was a lot better than the 30 cents per share lost in the comparable quarter. Expectations were for the red ink to be closer to 18 cents per share.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• Activision Blizzard Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) shares rose after it reaffirmed its full-year earnings and sales outlook.
• Automatic Data Processing Inc. (NASDAQ: ADP) will have low double-digit EPS growth, predicts one analyst.
• AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) posted a decline in earnings but a small rise in sales, sending shares lower.
• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBY) posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings and higher revenue.
• CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX) rallied to a new 52-week high after topping analysts' Q2 earnings expectations.
• Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) reported better-than-expected Q3 results and raised its full-year guidance.