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Briefly

CVS Health reports $400M loss

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) — CVS Health Corporation on Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter loss of $419 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based company said it had a loss of 37 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $2.14 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.07 per share.

The drugstore chain and pharmacy benefits manager posted revenue of $54.42 billion in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $53.71 billion.

CVS Health expects full-year earnings in the range of $6.68 to $6.88 per share.

CVS Health shares have climbed almost 7 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 11 percent. The stock has dropped nearly 3 percent in the last 12 months.

Student allegedly made drug app

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Northern California college freshman is facing felony charges for allegedly creating an iPhone app he dubbed the Banana Plug to sell illicit drugs.

Collin Howard on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in San Jose after a grand jury indicted him on Feb. 14. Howard, 18, had earlier pleaded not guilty to similar drug charges in Santa Cruz County where he was arrested in his dorm room at the University of California, Santa Cruz on Nov. 28.

The investigation began in November when a university campus police officer noticed one of many posters hung on campus advertising an app called Banana Plug, prosecutors said. The school’s mascot is the banana slug and plug is slang for a drug dealer.

Banana Plug could be downloaded from Apple’s online store and was advertised as a free game with the motto “We Have What You Want,” but users could place drug orders through the app, investigators said.

Campus police and Department of Homeland Security agents said they launched an undercover sting operation that included four drug buys using the app.

University spokesman Scott Hernandez-Jason said Howard is “no longer a student UC Santa Cruz.” Citing student privacy laws, Hernandez-Jason declined to say if Howard was expelled or voluntarily withdrew.

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