Only around 200 quarterly earnings reports are due out this week. With the Memorial Day holiday coming up (and after more than a year of restricted movement due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the flow of earnings reports will be slowing to a trickle until a couple of weeks after the June quarter closes.
[in-text-ad]
No notable earnings reports were released Friday afternoon or Monday morning, but we have selected two reports due out Monday afternoon and one expected Tuesday morning that deserve some attention: AutoZone, Lordstown Motors and Zymergen.

This preview looks at two companies reporting quarterly results Tuesday afternoon and two more scheduled to release results Wednesday morning.

Nordstrom

Department store operator Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) will report first-quarter results after markets close Tuesday. Nordstrom managed to cut its 2020 share price loss from about 70% in late October to around 22% by the end of the year. For the year to date, the stock has added about 21%. Revenue tumbled by nearly a third in 2020, and it’s that revenue total that will get the most attention Tuesday afternoon. Macy’s set a high bar for revenue improvement with a year-over-year revenue jump of more than 50%.

Of 26 analysts covering the company, 17 rate the shares a Hold and just four rate the stock a Buy or Strong Buy. The stock already has outrun its consensus price target of $35.88, with a current trading price of around $37.60. At the high price target of $48, upside potential based on the current price is about 28%.

Analysts expect Nordstrom to post a per-share loss of $0.57 on sales of $2.9 billion. For the full 2022 fiscal year, consensus estimates call for earnings per share (EPS) of $1.12 on sales of $13.57 billion.

At the current price, Nordstrom’s stock trades at about 31.4 times expected 2022 EPS and 16.7 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $11.72 to $46.45, and the average daily trading volume is around 3.4 million shares. Nordstrom has suspended its $0.37 per share quarterly dividend.

Zscaler

Cloud security provider Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) also reports fiscal third-quarter results Tuesday. The stock added nearly 330% to its share price last year but has dipped about 12.6% so far in 2021 as tech stocks have sold off. Over the past 12 months, shares are up nearly 128%. The company was among the first to promote the “zero trust” platform that continuously verifies credentials and permissions for network users. Revenue rose 55% year over year in the prior quarter, and expectations for sequential revenue growth for the third quarter hover around 48%.

Analysts have been mostly bullish on the stock, with 14 of 26 firms rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy. At price of around $175.20, the stock sports upside potential of 34% based on a consensus price target of $234.92. At the high target of $260, upside potential is just over 48%.

Consensus estimates call for quarterly EPS of $0.07 on sales of $163.7 million. For the 2021 fiscal year that ends in July, analysts are looking for EPS of $0.40 on sales of $638.21 million.

Zscaler’s shares trade at 438 times expected 2021 EPS, 287 times estimated 2022 earnings and 178.8 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.83 to $230.88, and the average daily trading volume is 1.9 million shares. Zscaler does not pay a dividend.
[in-text-ad]

Abercrombie & Fitch

Specialty retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE: ANF) reports fiscal first-quarter results before Wednesday’s opening bell. After plunging by more than 50%, it managed to post a share price gain of almost 20% last year. The stock has soared by around 87% so far in 2021. Last week, the shares traded briefly at an eight-year high of nearly $43.

Analysts are, at best, cool to the stock. Nine of 16 brokerages rate the stock a Hold, while just two rate the shares at Strong Buy. The shares currently trade near $37.95, less than a dollar below the consensus price target of $38.89, implying upside potential of just 2.5%. At the high target of $50, upside potential is about 32%.

Consensus estimates call for the retailer to post a per-share loss of $0.38 in the quarter on sales of $687.35 million. For the 2022 fiscal year, current estimates call for EPS of $1.61 on sales of $3.53 billion.

The stock trades at around 23.6 times expected 2022 EPS and 20.4 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $9.30 to $43.60, and the average daily trading volume is around 1.5 million shares. The company does not pay a dividend.

Li Auto

Beijing-based Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) also is scheduled to post quarterly results before markets open Wednesday. Following the July 2020 IPO, the stock traded up nearly 170% and closed out 2020 up about 75% over the IPO price. So far in 2021, the stock is down nearly 28%. The company’s SUV, the Ideal One, sold 5,539 units in China last month, good enough to rank fourth behind Wuling HongGuang’s Mini EV (29,251 units sold), Tesla’s Model 3 (6,264) and BYD’s Han EV (5,746). The Ideal One sold more units than Tesla’s Model Y (5,407). U.S. automaker GM’s China division owns a 44% stake in Wuling HongGuang.

As with virtually all other EV makers, analysts are heavily bullish on Li Auto’s stock, with 13 of 17 rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy. At a price of around $20.80, the implied upside to a consensus price target of $36.50 is about 75%. At the high target of $59.98, the implied upside is a whopping 188%.

Li Auto is expected to post a loss of $0.02 per share in the first quarter on sales of $521.25 million. For the full 2021 fiscal year, the per-share loss is forecast to reach $0.08 on sales of $2.94 billion, more than double the company’s total in 2020.

The company is not expected to post a profit this year but, based on estimated EPS of $0.12 in fiscal 2022, the shares currently trade at a multiple of about 173. Li Auto does not pay a dividend. The average daily trading volume is nearly 14 million shares.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.