Investing
Earnings Previews: Constellation Brands, Field Trip Health, NovaGold, Walgreens
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The three major U.S. equity indexes closed lower Monday, with the Nasdaq dipping by 0.72%, the S&P 500 sliding 0.3% and the Dow Jones industrials closing down 0.2%. The only sectors to close the day with gains were energy (2.9%), utilities (0.8%) and health care (0.4%). All three indexes traded up by less than 1% in Tuesday’s premarket session.
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After markets closed on Monday, Dow component Nike beat estimates for both profits and revenue. Shares traded down 2.5% in Tuesday’s premarket due to lowered revenue guidance for the August quarter. Even a $3 billion boost (to $18 billion) in share buybacks did not completely sway investors.
Trip.com reported a smaller than expected loss, and revenue came in as expected. The stock traded up more than 16% on news that the Chinese government relaxed its COVID-19 quarantine rules. China’s airline stocks also saw a boost from the change.
We already have previewed four companies on deck to report quarterly results before markets open on Wednesday: Bed Bath & Beyond, General Mills, Paychex and Schnitzer Steel.
Here is a look at four companies scheduled to release quarterly results late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE: STZ) produces, imports and sells beer, wine and spirits in the United States and other countries. With a market cap of around $46.3 billion, it is the country’s largest publicly traded alcoholic beverage stock. The shares have added about 9.7% to their value over the past 12 months, following a spurt two weeks ago.
Constellation’s free cash flow over the past four quarters was nearly $1.7 billion, and even though the company recently raised its dividend payment, shareholders would probably like to hear about a better return on their investment. The company reports results first thing Thursday morning.
Of 24 analysts covering the company, 17 rate the stock a Buy or Strong Buy and the other seven have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $247.40, the upside potential based on a median price target of $272.00 is 9.9%. At the high price target of $305.00, the upside potential rises to 23.3%.
The stock trades at 22.6 times expected 2023 EPS, 19.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $12.74 and 17.4 times estimated 2025 earnings of $14.42 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $207.35 to $261.52. Constellation pays an annual dividend of $3.20 (yield of 1.41%). Total shareholder return for the past 12 months is 9.7%.
Toronto-based Field Trip Health Ltd. (NASDAQ: FTRP) is developing a psychedelic-assisted therapy program that integrates psychedelic medicine with psychotherapy to treat conditions such as PTSD. Watch for the company to report results after markets close on Wednesday.
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Field Trip came public last July and has announced that it will split into two companies in July of this year. The drug discovery and development business will become Reunion Neuroscience, and the therapy clinics will become Field Trip Health and Wellness. Reunion will retain the joint U.S./Canadian listing and the health and wellness business will list only on Toronto’s TSX Venture exchange.
All five brokerages that cover Field Trip Health stock have Buy or Strong Buy ratings. At a share price of around $0.80, the upside potential based on a median price target of $12.10 is 1,400%. At the high price target of $24.94, the upside potential is roughly double that.
Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $1.49 million, up 38.3% sequentially and 181.0% higher year over year. The company is expected to post a loss per share of $0.18, down from the prior-quarter loss of $0.26 and flat with the year-ago loss. For the full fiscal year that ended in March, Field Trip Health is expected to report a per-share loss of $0.72 on revenue of $3.91 million, up more than 400% year over year.
Shares have dropped by about 86% since the company’s listing on Nasdaq. The company is one of a half dozen publicly traded psychedelic treatment developers we looked at last September. All have posted big share price declines over the past 12 months.
NovaGold Resources Inc. (NYSEAMERICAN: NG) is a junior gold miner that owns a 50% stake in Donlin Gold, an undeveloped open-pit mine located in southwest Alaska. The other 50% of Donlin is owned by Barrick Gold. The stock has dropped nearly 30% over the past 12 months and tracks closely with Barrick stock (Barrick shares are down about 5.4% over the past year). NovaGold is scheduled to report quarterly results after markets close Wednesday.
The cyanide-leach mining project has been opposed by the Association of Village Council Presidents, which represents 56 tribal governments in Alaska’s Kuskokwim region, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation and the National Congress of American Indians. Opponents have lost their last appeal to the state’s natural resources department, and some tribes have filed appeals with the state’s superior court related to water use permits issued by the state.
Only three analysts cover the stock, and two of them have a Hold rating, perhaps with an eye toward an acquisition by Barrick. At a share price of around $5.60, the upside potential based on a median price target of $10.04 is 79.3%. At the high price target of $27.77, the upside potential is nearly 400%.
NovaGold is not expected to post any revenue for the fiscal second quarter that ended in May. Analysts expect a per-share loss of $0.03 for the quarter and a loss per share of $0.10 for the 2022 fiscal year ending in November.
The company is not expected to post a profit in 2022, 2023 or 2024. The 52-week trading range is $5.22 to $8.84.
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Dow component Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (NYSE: WBA) was one of 2022’s Dogs of the Dow, the 10 stocks that paid the best dividend yield at the end of December 2021. The stock has dropped by more than 17% so far this year and is down 15.7% over the past 12 months. Walgreens reports results before Thursday’s opening bell.
In a statement released Tuesday morning, the company said it was abandoning plans to sell its U.K.-based Boots drugstore chain because “market instability [is] severely impacting financing availability” and no buyer has been able to make an offer Walgreens believes is acceptable. Investors shaved about 2.1% from the share price in Tuesday’s premarket session.
Of 19 analysts covering the stock, 17 have a Hold rating on the shares and the other two rate the stock at Sell or Strong Sell. At a share price of around $42.20, the upside potential based on a median price target of $48.00 is 13.7%. At the high target of $52.00, the upside potential is 23.2%.
For the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2022, analysts are expecting revenue of $32.23 billion, down 4.5% sequentially and 5.6% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast to come in at $0.92, down 41.9% sequentially and 33.0% year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in August, consensus estimates call for EPS of $5.066, down 4.7%, on revenue of $132.06 billion, down about 0.3%.
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