Investing

Earnings Preview: AmBev, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Uber, ViacomCBS, Zynga

Paul Ausick

Published: May 4, 2021 1:38 pm

More than 1,500 publicly traded companies are scheduled to report March quarter earnings this week with heavy representation from energy exploration and production companies. Other top brands like Google, Ferrari, Pfizer and T-Mobile are on deck as well.

Looking at companies reporting earnings following Tuesday’s closing bell, we have previewed Activision, Devon Energy, Lyft, and others. Here are another five companies set to report earnings before Wednesday’s opening bell: Barrick, Exelon, General Motors, Stratasys and SunPower.

The five companies previewed in this story are scheduled to report earnings after Wednesday’s close or before Thursday’s opening bell.

Uber

Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER), like rival Lyft, dodged a bullet last year when California voters rejected a proposition that would have forced the companies (and many others) to treat employees as regular staff, not contractors. Uber’s stock added more than 71% to its value last year, with most coming after the ballot proposition was defeated. The shares have gyrated wildly so far this year and currently show a gain of just 2.3% for the year to date. The company reports results after markets close Wednesday.

Not many analysts shun the stock, as 33 of 39 rate the shares a Buy or Strong Buy. At a current price of around $52.30, the upside potential based on a consensus price target of $70.21 is 34%. At the high target of $82, upside potential is about 57%.

Analysts expect Uber to report a loss per share of $0.54, only about a third as large as the loss in the same quarter last year. Revenue is tabbed at $3.28 billion, down 7.6%. For the full fiscal year, analysts are forecasting a net loss of $1.53 per share, well under half the loss posted in 2020. Revenue is expected to rise by 44.5% to $16.09 billion.

The stock currently trades at about 481.1 times estimated 2022 earnings and 40.1 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $26.81 to $64.05. Uber does not pay a dividend, and the average daily trading volume is about 18.4 million shares.

Zynga

When Jefferies analysts reviewed top game developer stocks, they credited Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) as the “best-positioned to win” in a world that no longer includes the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) (at least by default on iPhones) that companies like Znyga used to track users. The stock added more than 61% in 2020 with 2021 able to tack on another 3% so far. The company reports results after markets close Wednesday.

Of 15 firms covering the company, seven rate the stock as a Buy or Strong Buy. The shares currently trade at around $10.10, implying a potential upside of 30% to the consensus price target of $13.12. At the high target of $15, the upside potential is around 50%.

Zynga is expected to post earnings per share (EPS) of $0.09, up by 33% year over year for the March quarter. Revenue is expected to increase by 61.5% to $685.98 million. For the full year, analysts forecast EPS of $0.40 and revenue of $2.84 billion, gains of 14% and 25%, respectively.

Znyga trades at 25.3 times expected 2021 EPS, 21.8 times estimated 2022 earnings and 19.9 times expected 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $7.42 to $12.32. Zynga does not pay a dividend. The average daily trading volume is 18.4 million shares.

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Beverage maker Ambev S.A. (NYSE: ABEV) saw its share price fall by nearly a third in 2020. The shutdown of bars and restaurants in an effort to stop the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Brazil-based company hard. Recovery is slow, with shares down another 10% so far this year. The company reports results before markets open on Thursday.

Analysts favor waiting to see how the reopening of the global economy goes before committing to AmBev. Five of the eight firms covering the stock rate the shares as a Hold. At a price of $2.73, the stock’s potential upside to the consensus price target of $3.23 is 18.3%. Measured against the high target of $4.50, upside potential rises to nearly 65%.

The company is expected to post first-quarter EPS of $0.05, a year-over-year drop of more than 28%. Expected revenue of $3.4 billion would be down nearly 12%. For the full year, analysts are looking for EPS of $0.12 on sales of $10.73 billion. That’s a decline of 36.8% in EPS and 19.5% in sales.

AmBev stock trades at 26.6 times expected 2021 EPS, 23.0 times estimated 2022 earnings and 18.6 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $1.90 to $3.20 and the company pays an annual dividend of $0.01 (yield of $0.51). The average daily trading volume is 21.4 million shares.

Norwegian Cruise Lines

Cruise line operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) had a disastrous 2020. The stock price fell by more than 56% as COVID-19 effectively shut down the industry for 10 months. Shares have added 17% so far this year, but last week’s recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that will allow cruises to operate again didn’t light a fire under the stocks. Likely that’s due to the requirement that 95% of passengers will need to be vaccinated before the ships can sail.

Still, analysts are hopeful, with 14 of 22 rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy. Shares trade at around $29.75, implying a potential upside of 4.8% to the consensus price target of $31.18. At the high target of $40, the upside potential is around 34%.

Analysts expect Norwegian to report a loss per share of $2.05 on revenue of $10.52 million. Revenue is down more than 99% year over year, and the loss per share is more than double. For the full year, analysts forecast a loss per share of $6.01, 30% lower year over year, on revenue of $1.32 billion, up 3.4% over a very bad year. Revenue in 2019 totaled $6.46 billion.

Norwegian is not expected to post a profit until 2023. At the current price, shares trade at 61.7 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $9.24 to $34.49. The company has suspended its dividend and the average daily trading volume is about 22.8 million shares.

ViacomCBS

ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC) began trading as a merged company in late December of 2019. Shares plummeted by nearly 75% last March and recovered most of that to close the year down just 7.6%. So far this year the shares are up about 5% after spiking more than 160% before announcing a secondary offering that shaved off about two-thirds of the value. The company reports results before markets open on Thursday.

Of 28 analyst ratings, 17 are Buy or Strong Buy. Shares trade at around $39.10, implying an upside of 34% to the consensus price target of $52.58. At the high target of $120, upside potential is a whopping 207%.

For the March quarter, ViacomCBS is expected to report EPS of $1.21, up 7% year over year, on revenue of $7.3 billion, or 9.5% higher. For the year, analysts are forecasting EPS of $4.01, up 2.4%, on revenue of $27.72 billion, a gain of 9.6%.

At the current price, the stock trades at 10.0 times expected 2021 EPS, 10.4 times estimated 2022 earnings and 10.0 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.79 to $101.97 and ViacomCBS pays an annual dividend of $0.96 (yield 2.34%). The average daily trading volume is about 41.6 million shares.