We’ll be previewing only a small percentage of the more than 900 publicly traded companies scheduled to report March quarter earnings this week. We have selected a couple of dozen to preview over the next few days from the nearly endless list.

First out of the chute this week (Monday afternoon) is Tesla, then General Electric and UPS are scheduled to report results before markets open Tuesday. All three will be watched closely.
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Our earlier report on Monday included coverage of AMD, Google, Microsoft and Texas Instruments, all of which report after markets close on Tuesday.

This report covers four companies scheduled to report earnings either after markets close on Tuesday or before markets open Wednesday morning.

Enphase Energy

Solar energy component maker Enphase Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH) saw its share price rise by some 570% in 2020. Since the beginning of 2021, however, the tide has turned and the shares have posted a loss of nearly 4%. At one time, the shares were down nearly 25% for the year to date.

Like many other solar stocks, Enphase, which makes microinverters that convert direct current at the solar module level, got a big boost from the infrastructure plan introduced by President Joe Biden in late March. The company reports result after markets close Tuesday.

Positive ratings are the order of the day, with 12 of 20 analysts giving the stock a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the rest rating the stock at Hold. The consensus price target on the shares is about $209, some $40 above the current trading price, implying a potential upside of almost 24%. At the high target of $264, the upside potential is 56%.

For the March quarter, the consensus earnings per share (EPS) estimate is $0.44, an increase of almost 16% year over year. Sales are expected to improve by 42% to $292.04 million. For the 2021 fiscal year, analysts are looking for EPS of $2.14 on sales of $1.35 billion.

At the current price, Enphase’s shares trade at 81.9 times expected 2021 EPS, 60.5 times estimated 2022 earnings and 46.7 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $36.91 to $229.04. Enphase does not pay a dividend.

Starbucks

Coffee shop operator Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) reports its fiscal second-quarter results late on Tuesday. Like all restaurant companies, Starbucks had to dig itself out of a deep hole due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns, but shares did manage to post a 24% price gain for the year. So far in 2021, the stock is up about 8.5%, and as more people are vaccinated in the United States and elsewhere, analysts expect the company’s business to improve even more.

Of 33 analysts covering the stock, 24 rate Starbucks a Buy or Strong Buy and the other nine rate the stock a Hold. The consensus price target on the shares is $114.76, and the stock traded Monday at around $115.50. At the high target of $137, the potential upside on the stock is 18%.

For the March quarter, analysts expect Starbucks to report EPS of $0.53, up about 66% compared with the year-ago quarter. Revenue is forecast to rise by nearly 14% to $6.81 billion. For the 2021 fiscal year, analysts are looking for EPS of $2.85, more than double the 2020 result, and sales of $28.6 billion, up nearly 22% year over year.

At the current price, shares trade at around 40.4, 33.2 and 29.1 times estimated EPS in 2021, 2022 and 2023 earnings, respectively. The stock’s 52-week range is $70.65 to $118.98. Starbucks pays an annual dividend of $1.80 (a yield of 1.53%).
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Boeing

Shares of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) dropped nearly 34% in 2020, but over the past 12 months, the stock is up 88%, thanks mainly to a lifting of the grounding order on Boeing’s 737 Max commercial jet. Customers are ordering and taking delivery of the company’s bread-and-butter airplane again, but there are plenty of issues remaining for CEO David Calhoun to solve. Maybe that’s why Boeing lifted its mandatory retirement age from 65 to 70 for Calhoun. Or maybe it was to offset any negative feeling among investors to the announced retirement of CFO Greg Smith at the age of 54.

What investors want most from Boeing is a return of the company’s dividend. Maybe that will be announced Wednesday morning, along with first-quarter results, but don’t count on it.

Analysts remain upbeat on Boeing, with 14 of 25 giving the shares a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The stock’s consensus price target is $251.91 and shares recently traded at around $242.70, implying an upside of around 3.8%. At the high target of $314, the upside potential on the shares is 29%.

Boeing is expected to post a quarterly loss per share of $1.15, an improvement of 32% over the loss in the same quarter last year. Forecast revenue of $15.21 billion is about 10% lower than in the same period last year. Boeing is expected to post a loss of $0.44 for the full fiscal year, miles better than the $12.08 per share loss posted in 2020. Revenue is forecast to rise by nearly 38% to $80.07 billion for the year.

At the current trading price, Boeing stock trades at around 44.9 and 30.8 times estimated 2022 and 2023 earnings, respectively. The stock’s 52-week range is $113.89 to $278.57. Boeing suspended its dividend in 2019.

Shopify

E-commerce platform provider Shopify Inc. (NYSE: SHOP) also reports results first thing Wednesday. In 2020, the stock jumped nearly 185%, with most of the gain coming between April and August. Since September 1, Shopify’s stock has traded down less than 1%. The company doubled its subscriber total in 2020, but investors have not been treating Shopify like one in which growth is paramount. Even four straight quarters of positive per-share earnings and solid earnings beats cannot seem to lure investors.

Well over half of brokerages, 18 of 29, rate Shopify a Buy or Strong Buy, and 10 have a Hold rating. The consensus price target is $1,434.78, and shares recently traded at $1,147.46, implying a potential upside of about 25%. At the high target of $1,900, the upside potential is nearly 66%.

Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.74, up by nearly 300% year over year, on sales of $861.02 million, up 83.2%. For the full fiscal year, EPS is forecast to reach $3.94, essentially flat with last year, with revenue up 40% to $4.1 billion.

At its current price, Shopify traded at a multiple of 280.8 times expected 2021 earnings, 218.4 times estimated 2022 earnings and 147.3 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $595.03 to $1,499.75. Shopify does not pay a dividend.

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