Equities took something of a beating Tuesday morning, with Home Depot down around 4% on a weak outlook and Palo Alto Networks down about 1% on a similarly dim view of the current quarter.

In our earnings preview yesterday, we looked at electric truck drive train maker Hyliion, independent oil producer Range Resources and mobile payments company Square. All three report after markets close on Tuesday. Our preview also covered three companies reporting Wednesday morning: Lowe’s, TJX Companies and Vertiv.
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Looking ahead to Wednesday afternoon, here are previews of 3D Systems and Nvidia, both of which are scheduled to report quarterly results. For Thursday morning, we’ve previewed four more firms we expect to hear from: Best Buy, Li Auto, Moderna and Plug Power.

3D Systems

3D Systems Corp. (NYSE: DDD) is on deck to report results after Wednesday’s closing bell. The company has been publicly traded for more than 30 years. Since moving to the New York Stock Exchange in May of 2011, the stock has added more than 200% to its share price. At its peak in January 2014, the shares traded up just over $99. In 2020, the stock added 20%, but shares are up more than 240% so far in 2021 and trade around $35.50. That’s about 45% below its peak for the year to date.

The source of the 2021 joy is likely the company’s announcement that 3D Systems is consolidating its operations in South Carolina with the company’s headquarters in an effort to reduce costs and expand margins. That was all part of the company’s restructuring plan announced last year, and shares shot up on expectations that 3D Systems would report a profit in its fourth quarter.

Analysts now expect quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.10 on revenue of $168.5 million, a 100% EPS increase, and a revenue boost of 2.4% year over year. For the full fiscal year, analysts expect a net loss per share of $0.01 on sales of $550.4 million. The annual loss is seven cents better than the loss posted in 2019, but full-year sales are expected to fall by more than 12%.

At the current trading price, the stock already trades above its consensus target of $20.50. Based on the current price, shares trade at around 112 times expected 2021 EPS and about 78 times expected 2022 EPS.

Nvidia

This was one of 2020’s major stories. The Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) share price more than doubled in the year but has gained less than 6% so far in 2021, as the tech stocks continue slipping from highs posted last week. The company likely will see a boost from rising bitcoin prices in the current quarter, but for the quarter just ended, sales of its gaming processors most likely will have contributed to the company’s earnings.

The consensus price target on Nvidia stock is $605.20, and shares currently trade at around $550.20, implying a potential upside of around 9%. At the high price target of $700, the implied gain is 27%. Susquehanna, BMO and Deutsche Bank all raised their price targets Tuesday, with Susquehanna posting a $700 target, along with a Positive rating. Of 38 analyst ratings on the stock, all but two are Hold or better with 21 being Buy or Strong Buy.
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Analysts expect EPS of $2.81 on sales of $4.8 billion, an improvement of nearly 50% in earnings and 55% in sales. For the year, Nvidia is expected to post EPS of $9.73 (up nearly $4, or 69%, year over year) and revenue of $16.5 billion, up 51%.

Nvidia shares currently trade at about 57 times expected 2020 EPS, 47 times expected 2021 earnings and 40 times expected 2022 EPS.

Best Buy

Before markets open Thursday morning, Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is expected to report. Shares added nearly 17% last year, but the holiday season took a lot of air out of the stock, which had traded up as much as 43% in early November. For the year to date, shares are up about 14%, after last week giving back a third of its year-to-date gain.

Working and going to school from home pushed Best Buy’s sales higher and, analysts believe, profits were higher as well. The outlook for the stock depends on whether you expect the good times to last. Best Buy’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 ended on January 31.

Analysts are looking for quarterly EPS of $3.42, up 17% year over year on a sales boost of nearly 13% to $17.2 billion. For the fiscal year, EPS is tabbed at $7.85, up about 30% year over year, and sales are expected to increase by nearly 9% to $47.5 billion.

The consensus price target on the stock is $123.02. At a current price of around $114.30, the implied upside on the stock is about 8.6%. At the high price target of $150, the potential gain is around 22%. Shares are trading at a multiple of nearly 15 times expected 2021 and 2022 EPS.

Li Auto

Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) is one of a handful of electric vehicle makers that absolutely blistered the markets last year. Since its July IPO, Li Auto posted a share price gain of 75% in 2020, and they stock traded up more than 160% at one point. For the year to date, shares traded down about 11% in the noon hour Tuesday.

Analysts expect the company to post a loss per share of $0.04 on sales of $564.8 million in the fourth quarter. For the full 2020 fiscal year, analysts are projecting a net loss per share of $0.14 on sales of $1.4 billion. The China-based carmaker is expected to lose $0.02 per share in 2022 on sales of almost $3 billion.
At a current trading price of around $25.40, Li Auto shares trade about $12.50 below their consensus price target of $37.92, implying an upside of some 49%. The high price target of $59.87 implies a potential upside on the stock of about 135%. That’s a multiple of nearly 2,200 times expected 2021 EPS and nearly 99 times expected 2022 EPS.
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Moderna

Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) has become a household name in the past year or so. The vaccine maker is one of two authorized to sell vaccines that reduce the impact of COVID-19. The share price of around $144 likely reflects high hopes for the company’s long-term success. Moderna is a one-treatment company with a market cap of around $57 billion. That’s more than Regeneron (market cap of about $49 billion) or Biogen ($42 billion market cap), both of which have multiple drugs on the market.

Over the past 12 months, Moderna’s stock had added more than 900% as of early this month. With equities now being sold off, shares up less than 700% over the 12 months. With a consensus price target of $160.38, the potential upside to the stock’s current price is around 11%. At the high target of $215, the potential gain on the stock is around 49%.

Moderna is forecast to post net losses per share of $0.35 for the quarter and $1.55 for the 2020 fiscal year. Quarterly sales are projected to rise by nearly 1,900% to $279.4 million and full-year sales are projected to increase more than 750% to around $519 million. At the current price, shares trade at about 11 times expected 2021 EPS and 10 times expected 2022 earnings.

Plug Power

Here is another stock that has traded in a hot sector during 2020. Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) shares added about 970% in 2020 and had traded up more than 2,200% since January of 2020 before share prices turned south late last month. The stock has given up more than 20% of its increase since January 2020.

Plug Power makes hydrogen fuel cells, and the competition in that industry is strong and the customers for the products are relatively fuel. That is certain to change, but the timeline could be long. The stock traded at $45 a share shortly after the noon hour Tuesday, implying a potential gain of some 40% to the consensus price target of nearly $63. The shares trade with a potential doubling at the high price target of $88.

Analysts expect Plug Power to report a fourth-quarter loss per share of $0.10 on sales of $87.3 million. For the fiscal year, the net loss per share is forecast at $0.36 (equal to the 2019 loss per share) on sales of $327.6 million, up 38% year over year. The company is expected to post net losses in both 2021 and 2022, but sales are forecast to rise by around 45% in 2021 and more than 50% in 2022.

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