On Monday, CVS Caremark Corp. managed to report a larger-than-estimated hike in its quarterly earnings, mainly on the back of the company attracting more business at its pharmacy benefits management division.

Despite the fact that total sales fell short of the expectations pegged by analysts, sales at drugstores which had been open for a minimum of a year managed to far outrace the recent results posted by the much larger American drugstore chain Walgreen Co.

As has been stated by Wachovia analyst Matt Perry, overall results "were decent, especially in the face of a tough economy".

On the news, shares of the company surged by 3.2% to $32.07.

For the previous year's last quarter, earnings increased to $1.05 Billion or 74 cents a share, from last year's figure of $949 Million, or 65 cents a share.

Revenue, on the other hand, hiked by 7% to $25.8 Billion.