Undoubtedly, one of the most volatile stocks recently has been Rite Aid Corporation (RAD). Between concerns about the company's ability to survive long-term on its own and optimism surrounding recent financial performance and expectations for its next fiscal year, it has been all over the place. Certainly with the new year having passed and January well underway, the drugstore chain will make for a fascinating prospect to watch, but long-term investors would be wise to exercise a great deal of caution since the risks for the business are still quite high.

Rite Aid is and has been, for years now, a turnaround story. However, turning the company from being an unhealthy to becoming an investment-worthy prospect has taken a long time and is still far from complete. As an example, we need to only look at the chain's latest quarterly results. In them, you can see a mix of positive developments, but these are not without their corresponding negative results.

The clearest example here of some good performance is how well the company did on both the top and bottom lines in the latest quarter. Sales were up a paltry 0.2% year-over-year, but net income surged from a loss in last year's quarter of $4.51 million to a gain of $51.49 million. Operating cash flow did even better, rising from $351.12 million in last year's quarter to $423.71 million this year. EBITDA, meanwhile, has also done well, rising from $142.79 million to $158.09 million.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE