Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance rose in premarket trading Friday after the beleaguered pharmacy chain reported better-than-anticipated quarterly adjusted earnings and sales.

For the fiscal third quarter ended May 31, Walgreens posted adjusted earnings of 38 cents a share, topping the 25 cents analysts had expected. Sales of $39 billion surpassed the $37 billion Wall Street had forecast, according to FactSet.

The company noted that it previously had withdrawn its fiscal-year guidance ahead of a buyout by Sycamore Partners. Walgreens said in March that it had reached a definitive agreement to be taken private by the firm sometime in the calendar fourth quarter.

Shares appeared to have a muted reaction to the latest earnings, rising 0.8% to $11.40 in premarket trading. Futures tracking the benchmark S&P 500 were up 0.3%.