Investing

Earnings Previews: Bilibili, Five Below, FuelCell Energy, Nio

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The three major U.S. equity indexes closed higher Monday, but not by as much as the first couple of hours might have suggested. The Nasdaq added 0.4%%, the S&P 500 rose by 0.3% and the Dow Jones industrials closed up less than a tick. Only the consumer cyclical sector finished the day with a gain of 1%. The tech sector closed flat, as did health care and consumer staples. The report on April’s trade balance showed a decline of about $20 billion below the March level, but still a deficit of $87.1 billion. The March deficit of $107.7 billion was the largest monthly deficit on record.

After markets closed Monday, Coupa Software beat consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Fiscal year guidance for earnings per share (EPS) was slightly above expectations, and revenue guidance was in line. The stock traded up by about 1% in Tuesday’s premarket session.

GitLab posted a smaller than expected loss and better than expected revenue. The company’s guidance for its 2023 fiscal year was better than consensus estimates, and the shares traded up by more than 10% early Tuesday.

Before markets opened Tuesday, Hello Group also beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, but it issued downside guidance on second-quarter revenue. Shares traded down about 3.5% early Tuesday.

Academy Sports beat both earnings and revenue estimates, while the low end of fiscal year 2023 EPS guidance was reduced and guidance for revenue did not reach the consensus estimate. The company also raised its buyback program by $600 million to $700 million. That was enough to boost shares by 5% in Tuesday’s premarket trading.

First thing Wednesday morning, Campbell Soup and Thor Industries will report quarterly results.

Here is a look at four companies scheduled to release quarterly results late Wednesday or early Thursday.

Bilibili

Bilibili Inc. (NASDAQ: BILI) offers gaming, video and live broadcasting platforms for children and teens in the People’s Republic of China. Over the past year, Bilibili shares have dropped by nearly 77%. The company is expected to get a boost when the government winds up its investigation of DiDi Global, China’s ride-sharing giant, and the Chinese economy begins revving up again. Most analysts expect this boost to be limited to the short term. Bilibili reports its quarterly results before markets open on Thursday.
The majority (29 of 35) brokers have rated Bilibili stock a Buy or Strong Buy, with the other six having Hold ratings. At a recent price of around $25.50 per share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $39.73 is 55.8%. At the high target of $115.88, the implied upside is a whopping 354%.

The consensus estimates call for fiscal first-quarter revenue of $757.24 million, which would be down 16.8% sequentially but up 27.2% year over year. Analysts have forecast an adjusted loss per share of $0.63, slightly better than the prior quarter’s loss per share of $0.66 and considerably worse than the year-ago loss of $0.29 per share. For the full 2022 fiscal year ending in December, analysts expect Bilibili to post a per-share loss of $2.39, compared to a loss last year of $2.27, on sales of $3.47 billion, up 13.6%.

Bilibili is not expected to post a profit in 2022, 2023 or 2024. The stock trades at a 2022 sales to enterprise value multiple of 2.4. The estimated multiple for 2023 is 1.7 and for 2024, 1.4  The stock’s 52-week trading range is $14.93 to $129.24. Total shareholder return for the past year is negative 76.6%.

Five Below

Discount retailer Five Below Inc. (NASDAQ: FIVE) has seen its share price drop by about 30% over the past 12 months. Since a recent high in mid-April, the shares are down about 28%. In other words, not much has changed for the company as inflation threatens discount retailers with lower profits if they don’t raise prices or lower revenue if they do raise prices. The company reports quarterly results after Wednesday’s closing bell.

Five Below also continues to plan to increase its U.S. store count to at least 3,500 by 2030. That is almost three times the number of U.S. stores the company currently operates. That will not be cheap, and that worries investors and analysts.

Of 22 analysts covering the stock, 17 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating, with the other five rating shares at Hold. At a share price of around $132.70, the upside potential based on a median price target of $207.00 is 56%. At the high target of $284.00, the implied upside is 114%.

The consensus estimates call for fiscal first-quarter revenue of $652.73 million, down 34.5% sequentially and 9.2% higher year over year. Analysts have forecast EPS of $0.58, down 76.7% sequentially and down 34.1% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year ending in January, analysts expect the company to post EPS of $5.48, up 10.6%, on sales of $3.21 billion, up 12.6%.

Five Below’s stock trades at 24.2 times expected 2023 EPS, 19.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $6.72 and 16.2 times estimated 2025 earnings of $8.20 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $110.83 to $237.86. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year was negative 30.3%.

FuelCell Energy

Hydrogen fuel cell maker FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) has seen its share price decline by more than 57% over the past 12 months, reaching a new 52-week low in mid-May. Over the past 24 months, however, shares are up more than 67%m following a spike in early 2020 that had shares up by around 1,000%. The company reports quarterly results early Thursday.
Since posting their low, FuelCell Energy shares are up 34.5%, and Monday’s announcement from President Biden, though primarily a boost for the solar industry, included some good news for clean energy fuels other than solar.

Analysts are content to wait and see what happens with the stock. None has a Buy or Strong Buy rating, and two have a Sell or Strong Sell rating. Shares trade at around $4.25 implying an upside of 21.2% based on a median price target of $5.15. Based on a high target price of $7.00, the upside potential on the stock is nearly 65%.

Consensus estimates call for second-quarter revenue of $32.32 million, up 1.7% sequentially and 131.7% year over year. The company is expected to post a per-share loss of $0.05, flat sequentially, and a penny better than the year-ago loss. For the full 2022 fiscal year, analysts are expecting a loss per share of $0.24, better than last year’s loss of $0.30 per share, on sales of $135.82 million, up 95.2%.

FuelCell Energy is not expected to post a profit in either 2022, 2023 or 2024. The stock’s 52-week range is $2.87 to $12.62. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year was negative 57.5%.

Nio

China-based electric vehicle maker (EV) Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) has dropped about 54% from its share price over the past 12 months. Since dipping to a 52-week low in mid-May, the stock has added 46%. Nio is expected to report results before markets open on Thursday.

Barron’s reported three reasons for the recent share price increase: first, the company is reportedly looking to hire U.S. talent and that could lead to sales and perhaps production in this country. Second, China’s government has instituted a tax break for people who buy new cars by the end of the year. Third, Shanghai will subsidize EV purchases to the tune of $1,500 until the end of the year.

There are 26 analyst ratings on Nio’s stock, and all but two are Buy or Strong Buy ratings. At a share price of around $19.20, the upside potential based on a median price target of $32.53 is about 69%. At the high target of $83.23, the upside potential is 333%.


For the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the consensus estimates call for revenue of $1.48 billion, down 5.1% sequentially but 21.3% higher year over year. Nio is expected to post an adjusted loss per share of $0.16, better than the $0.17 per-share loss in the prior quarter and worse than the year-ago loss of $0.03 per share. For the full year, the company is expected to report a per-share loss of $0.50, worse than the $0.30 loss in 2021, on sales of $9.41 billion, up about 65.5%.

Analysts estimate that Nio will trade at 84.7 times earnings in 2024. Until then, it is not expected to post a profit. The enterprise value-to-sales multiple is expected to be 2.9 in 2022 and 1.7 in 2023. The stock’s 52-week range is $11.67 to $55.13. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year is negative 54.3%.

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