Merger Monday was living up to its name, as Frontier Airlines has announced a merger with Spirit Airlines aimed at creating the lowest-cost U.S. carrier. The even bigger news was a bidding war for Peloton. As for earnings, both ON Semiconductor and Tyson Foods beat estimates and traded up more than 6% early Monday.

Three notable earnings reports are due out after markets close Monday: Amgen, Simon Property and Tenet Healthcare. Three more, BP, Pfizer and Sysco, are due before markets open on Tuesday.

We also have previewed five companies set to report late on Tuesday: Chipotle, Enphase, Global Foundries, Lyft and Peloton.

Here is a look at three firms scheduled to report results first thing Wednesday morning.

Cameco

At the end of the third quarter, Canada-based uranium producer Cameco Corp. (NYSE: CCJ) had seen its share price rise by more than 175% over the previous 12 months. As of last Friday’s close, the stock was up about 42% for the past 12 months.

Uranium prices were almost $7 a pound higher in September than they are now. S&P Global reported last month that prices are rising again and some mining companies are planning to increase their exploration budgets. Cameco may have something to say about its joint venture in Kazakhstan, the world’s largest source of yellowcake uranium. Weak pricing has idled five Cameco North American mines, which together represent about 24 million pounds of annual uranium production.

Analysts are fairly bullish on Cameco stock. Of 12 brokerages covering the shares, eight have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the other four rate shares at Hold. At a recent share price of around $19.70, the upside potential based on a median price target of $32 is 62.4%. At the high price target of $32.277, the upside potential is about 63.8%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $360.44 million, which would be up 26.4% sequentially but down almost 17.0% year over year. Analysts expect Cameco to post adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.01, better than the prior quarter’s loss of $0.22 per share but well short of the year-ago profit of $0.11 per share. For the full fiscal 2021 year, the loss per share is forecast at $0.22, worse than the $0.13 per share loss in 2020, on sales of  $1.15 billion, down 18.4%.

Cameco stock trades at 90.41 times expected 2022 earnings of $0.22 and 126.7 times estimated 2023 earnings of $0.16 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $14.16 to $28.49. Cameco pays an annual dividend of $0.06 (yield of 0.33%). Total shareholder return for the past year was 41.15%.

Canopy Growth

Marijuana grower and cannabis products maker Canopy Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: CGC) has seen its share price drop by more than 81% over the past 12 months. It is the largest publicly traded cannabis company by market cap, with a valuation of around $3.18 billion, nearly $2 billion lower than at the end of the prior quarter. To repeat our comment from last quarter: Nothing will bolster marijuana stocks until U.S. regulators remove the dangerous drug label stuck on cannabis decades ago.

Analysts are losing confidence in the stock. Of 22 brokerages covering the shares, 11 have a Hold rating and nine have a Sell or Strong Sell rating. Only two have given the shares a Buy rating. At a share price of around $7.96 and a median price target of $7.99, there’s little expected growth. At the high price target of $22.21, the upside potential is 179%.

Analysts estimate that Canopy Growth’s third-quarter revenue for fiscal 2022 will come in at $107.68 million, up 3.8% sequentially and 2.1% higher year over year. The consensus estimate calls for an adjusted loss per share of $0.25, down sharply from an adjusted loss of $0.01 in the prior quarter but better than the year-ago loss of $1.01 per share. For the full fiscal year, analysts expect a loss of $0.11 per share, significantly better than last year’s loss of $2.51 per share. Full-year revenue is forecast at $437.67 million, down about 9.4%.

Canopy Growth is not expected to post a profit in 2022, 2023 or 2024. The company’s sales to enterprise value multiple for 2022 is 6.7, 5.6 for 2023 and 4.6 for 2024. The stock’s 52-week range is $6.64 to $56.50, and Canopy Growth does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year is negative 81.5%.

The country’s second-largest provider of health care plans, CVS Health Corp. (NYSE: CVS), has seen its stock price rise by more than 54% in the past 12 months. The 12-month gain is about 5% above that of UnitedHealth and, for all of 2021, more than 9% larger than UnitedHealth’s price increase of around 45%. The stock posted its 52-week high last week, just $5 short of its all-time high posted in 2015.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 21 of 28 brokerages giving the stock a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The rest rate the shares at Hold. At a price of around $109.20 a share, the stock’s upside potential based on a median price target of $115 is about 5.3%. At the high price target of $125, the implied upside is 14.4%.

The consensus revenue estimate for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 is $75.47 billion, up 2.3% sequentially and about 8.5% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $1.88, down 4.6% sequentially and up 44.6% year over year. For the full fiscal year, analysts are looking for EPS of $8.29, up 10.5%, and revenue of $260.93 billion, up about 8.3% year over year.

CVS stock trades at 13.2 times expected 2021 EPS, 13.2 times estimated 2022 earnings of $8.27 and 12.2 times estimated 2023 earnings of $8.93 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $68.02 to $110.15. CVS Health pays an annual dividend of $2.20 (yield of 2.03%). Total shareholder return for the past 12 months was 54.76%.

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