Earnings announcements that we had previewed for Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning all topped bottom-line expectations, and just one (Heico) missed on the top line.

After markets close this afternoon, we shall see results from four companies we previewed on Tuesday: Pure Storage, Salesforce, Snowflake and Splunk. Thursday morning brings reports from four more firms we have previewed: Academy Sports, Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Xpeng.

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After markets close Thursday, we expect to hear seven interesting reports. In an earlier report, we previewed three more companies set to report Thursday afternoon: Bill.com, Peloton and Workday. Here we look at four additional reports due late Thursday.

Dell

Hardware and software maker Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) has posted a share-price gain of about 65% over the past 12 months. Like many other tech companies, Dell shares have bounced around since mid-April of this year, but they are still up nearly 40% for the year to date.

Rising demand for PCs has been driving sales and the expected reopening of schools and offices has curbed some of the enthusiasm for the stock. But the surge in new coronavirus infections may change the calculus somewhat. Analysts will be listening closely for any guidance on that score.

Analysts are moderately bullish on Dell stock, with 12 of 19 rating the shares a Buy or Strong Buy and six others rating the stock a Hold. At a recent price of around $101.90, the implied upside to the median price target of $119 is about 16.8%. At the high price target of $136, the implied upside is about 33.5%.

Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 is expected to total $25.55 billion, which would be up about 4.3% sequentially and about 12.2% year over year. Adjust earnings per share (EPS) are forecast to come in at $2.04, down 4.2% sequentially but up about 6.3% year over year. For the 2022 fiscal year, current estimates call for EPS of $8.61 (up 7.6%) on sales of $101.71 billion (up 7.8%).

The stock trades at 11.6 times expected 2022 EPS, 11.2 times estimated 2023 earnings and 10.1 times estimated 2024 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $58.88 to $104.62, and Dell does not pay a dividend.

Gap

Apparel retailer Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) has seen its share price soar by more than 80% over the past 12 months. Since the beginning of 2021, the stock has added about 40%, although it was up nearly 82% in mid-May. Year over year, revenue growth in the company’s first quarter was 89%. In the same quarter last year, revenue was down 43%. Revenue and same-store sales comparisons with fiscal 2019 are probably going to carry more weight than year-over-year numbers.

Analysts have entered wait-and-see mode on the stock, with 18 of 24 putting a Hold rating on the shares and the other six rating the stock a Buy or Strong Buy. At a price of around $27.80, the implied upside based on a median price target of $36.05 is nearly 30%. At the high target of $45, the implied gain is almost 62%.

Second-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $4.12 billion, up about 3.2% sequentially and up 26% year over year. Adjusted EPS of $0.46 is sharply above last year’s one-cent loss for the quarter, but 3.5% lower than first-quarter EPS. For the full year, analysts’ current estimates call for EPS of $1.79, compared with fiscal 2020’s loss of $0.56 per share, on sales of $17.14 billion, up 24.2%.

The stock trades at 14.0 times expected 2022 EPS, 11.8 times estimated 2023 earnings and 10.2 times estimated 2024 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $15.76 to $37.63, and Gap pays an annual dividend of $0.48 (yield of 1.65%).

Another tech hardware maker, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ), also has posted a share price increase of more than 60% in the past 12 months. And like Dell, at one point in May the stock was trading higher by 95% than it was in August of 2020. PC shipments from all makers are expected to rise by 14.2% this year, a reduction of 22% from an earlier estimate due to supply and logistics issues. That means chips and, primarily, air cargo availability. Dell faces the same issues, of course.

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Analysts are more cautious on HP stock than they are on Dell. Of 19 brokerages, eight rate the shares a Buy or Strong Buy, seven give the stock a Hold rating and the other four rate the shares a Strong Sell. At the price of around $29.50, the stock’s upside potential based on a median price target of $32 is 8.5%. At the high price target of $40, the upside potential is about 35.6%.

For the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2021, analysts are looking for revenue of $15.92 billion, up less than 1% sequentially and by more than 11% year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to total $0.84, down 10% sequentially and up 71% year over year. For the 2021 fiscal year, current estimates call for EPS of $3.50 (up 53.4%) and sales of $63.4 billion (up nearly 12%).

The stock trades at 8.2 times expected 2021 EPS, 8.0 times estimated 2022 earnings and 7.9 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $17.25 to $36.00, and HP pays an annual dividend of $0.78 (yield of 2.75%). HP also has committed to quarterly stock buyback of at least $1 billion.

Marvell

Chipmaker Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) has added more than 82% to its share price over the past 12 months, including a year-to-date gain of nearly 33%. The company’s $51.7 billion market cap is about a tenth that of Nvidia and less than a quarter that of Intel. Credit Suisse analyst John Pitzer called the company “one of the best idiosyncratic growth stories” in a research note Wednesday reiterating his Outperform rating on the stock and his $70 price target.

Pitzer is not alone. Of 30 analysts covering the stock, 24 rate the shares a Buy or Strong Buy, with five more rating the stock a Hold. At a price of $63.05, the stock’s upside potential at a median price target of $66 is 4.7%. At the high target of $74, the upside potential is 17.4%.

For Marvell’s second quarter, analysts are expecting revenue of $1.07 billion, up 28% sequentially and 47% year over year. Adjusted EPS are tabbed at $0.31, up 7.9% sequentially and nearly 50% year over year. The current estimates for the 2022 fiscal year call for EPS of $1.40, up nearly 52%, on sales of $4.22 billion, or 42% higher.

The stock trades at 44.4 times expected 2022 EPS, 33.6 times estimated 2023 earnings and 26.1 times estimated 2024 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $35.13 to $63.34. The high was posted in the morning. Marvell pays an annual dividend of $0.24 (yield of 0.39%).

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