Adjusted earnings were 65 Scarpe Hogan cents per share in a performance that topped Wall Street expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, earnings of 62 cents per share on $30.3 billion in revenue for the first quarter.
Company shares climbed 3 percent, or $1.39, to $46.10 Wednesday in pre-market trading.
CVS Caremark runs a pharmacy benefits management Hogan Scarpe business and is the second-largest chain of drugstores in the United States, after Walgreen Co. CVS operated 7,352 retail drugstores at the end of March.
The company said it saw a "significant benefit" in the quarter because Walgreen ended a contract to fill prescriptions with another pharmacy benefits manager, Express Scripts Inc. That prompted Walgreen customers to migrate to CVS stores.
CVS said revenue at stores open at least a year climbed more than 8 percent, and pharmacy sales growth hogan online surpassed 9 percent, even though a weak flu season hurt business. Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes the impact of recently opened or closed stores.