U.S. equity markets opened mixed on Tuesday. By mid-morning, the Dow Jones industrials still clung to a fractional gain, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq continued sinking. UPS crushed estimates when it reported results early Tuesday. Exxon Mobil, NXP Semiconductors and Sirius XM also beat both profit and revenue estimates. Pipeline operator Enterprise Products beat on revenue but missed the profit estimate.
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After markets close Tuesday and before they open on Wednesday, five firms will report quarterly results: Alphabet, AMD, GM, PayPal and Starbucks. Another four companies report quarterly results first thing on Wednesday: AbbVie, Humana, Marathon Petroleum and Novartis.

Here is a look at four firms scheduled to report results after markets close on Wednesday.

Meta Platforms

In late October, the company formerly known as Facebook announced a name change to Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: FB), which became effective December 1. The stock’s ticker will change to MRVS sometime this quarter. The name change slowed but ultimately did not stop a slide in the share price.

Since posting a 52-week high on September 1, the stock lost nearly 23% as of last week. Then Meta stock followed the rest of the tech stocks higher and has added about 7.7% in the past three trading sessions. The company gets credit for winding up interest from investors and companies in the metaverse. It believes it has a lead, and Meta might be right about that.

Analysts are virtually unanimous in their evaluation of Meta. Of 52 brokerages covering Facebook, 34 have given the shares a Buy rating and 10 more have a Strong Buy rating on the stock. Of the remaining nine, seven have a Hold rating. At a recent share price of around $313.30, the upside potential based on a median price target of $405 is nearly 29.3%. At the high price target of $466, the upside potential is 48.7%.

Meta is expected to report fourth-quarter revenue of $33.44 billion, which would be up 15.3% sequentially and 19.1% higher year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are forecast at $3.83, up 18.8% sequentially but down 1.3% year over year. For the full 2021 fiscal year, revenue is forecast at $117.69 billion, up 36.9%, and EPS is expected to come in at $13.96, up 38.3%.

Meta stock trades at 22.4 times expected 2021 EPS, 21.9 times estimated 2022 earnings of $14.31 and 18.6 times estimated 2023 earnings of $16.88 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $253.50 to $384.33. Facebook does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past 12 months was 19.6%.

Networking chipmaker Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has added about 14.5% to its share price over the past 12 months, but it has been a struggle. In mid-October, the stock price was down 27.5%. Since then, the stock is up 43.5% and even posted a new 52-week high in early January before the tech stock sell-off began.
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In an interview a couple of weeks ago with the Financial Times, CEO Cristiano Amon, speaking about the strategic importance of 5G to “connect everyone and everything,” cited race driver Mario Andretti: “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” Supply chains are definitely not under control, and that is a problem Amon is stuck with for now.

Of 32 analysts covering the company, 22 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating on the shares, and the other 10 rate the stock at Hold. At the share price of around $175.75, the upside potential based on a median price target of $200 is 13.8%. At the high target of $250, the upside potential is 42.2%.

First-quarter fiscal 2022 revenue is forecast to come in at $10.43 billion, up 11.9% sequentially and 23.7% year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $3.00, up 17.7% sequentially and 27.7% year over year. For the full fiscal year, the Dow Jones industrial average component currently is expected to post EPS of $10.74, up 25.8%, on sales of $39.71 billion, up 18.7%.

Qualcomm stock trades at 16.4 times expected 2022 EPS, 11.5 times estimated 2023 earnings of $11.73 and 13.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $12.72 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $122.17 to $193.58. Qualcomm pays an annual dividend of $2.72 (yield of 1.63%). Total shareholder return over the past 12 months was 10.78%.

Spotify

Steaming music and podcaster Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE: SPOT) has seen its share price drop by about 38% over the past 12 months. The stock reached a 52-week high in mid-February of last year and has fallen by 53% as of last Friday. The contretemps between Neil Young and Spotify over Joe Rogan’s podcast actually lifted the company’s stock out of that deep hole (by a little bit, relatively speaking). For a company with a market cap of around $34 billion, Spotify just does not seem to give investors a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Analysts, on the contrary, seem mostly upbeat if not exactly wildly bullish on the stock. Of 28 brokerages covering the firm, 15 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating on the stock and another 10 rate the shares at Hold. At a share price of around $195, the upside potential based on a median price target of $298 is 52.8%. At the high price target of $373, the upside potential is 91.3%.
Spotify’s fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $2.98 billion, up 3% sequentially and about 23.5% year over year. Spotify is expected to post a loss per share of $0.49, compared to a loss of $0.81 per share in the year-ago quarter. For full fiscal 2021, analysts have forecast EPS of $0.32, better than last year’s loss of $0.52 per share, on sales of $10.82, up 12.4%.

Spotify is expected to post a profit of $0.32 per share in 2022, and the stock now trades at 124.8 times expected 2023 earnings of $1.58 per share. Spotify’s 52-week trading range is $164.41 to $387.44. The company does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past 12 months was negative 40%.
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T-Mobile

After peaking in mid-July, wireless carrier T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) has seen its share price fall by nearly 28%. Over the past 12 months, the stock is down about 15%, worse than AT&T (down 8.9%) or Verizon (up 1.3%). Tuesday morning, T-Mobile announced that it had invested $3 billion in an FCC auction to acquire additional 5G mid-band spectrum. Last month, the stock was added to Goldman Sachs’s list of best ideas in telecom for 2022, knocking Verizon off the list.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 25 of 31 rating the shares a Buy or Strong Buy and another five having a Hold rating. At a share price of around $107.10, the implied gain based on a median price target of $162 is about 51.3%. At the high target of $230, the implied gain is nearly 115%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $21.06 billion, up 7.3% sequentially and 3.5% year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $0.14, down 89% sequentially and 87% year over year. For the full 2021 fiscal year, analysts have forecast EPS of $2.30, down 49.4%, on sales of $80.25, up 17.3%.

T-Mobile stock trades at 46.5 times expected 2021 EPS, 34.4 times estimated 2022 earnings of $3.11 and 19.6 times estimated 2023 earnings of $5.47 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $101.51 to $150.20. The company does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past 12 months was negative 16.6%.

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