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Earnings Previews: Kohl's, Lowe's, Nio

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In mid-morning trading on Monday, the Dow Jones industrials were up 0.63%, the S&P 500 up 0.71% and the Nasdaq up 0.86%.

Before U.S. markets opened on Monday, Fisker, as expected, posted a big fourth-quarter loss on revenue of just $310,000. Production and sales forecasts for 2023 remained unchanged at 42,000 units, and the company has enough cash to get through the year. It may even post positive EBITDA. The stock traded up 26.1% in mid-morning action.

Li Auto posted far better profits than analysts expected but missed slightly on revenue. The company expects to deliver 52,000 to 55,000 units this year, a year-over-year increase of up to 73%. The stock traded up 1.1% Monday.

After U.S. markets close on Monday, Occidental Petroleum, Range Resources and Zoom Video will report quarterly results. Norwegian Cruise Lines and Target are on deck to do the same first thing Tuesday morning, then look for reports from AMC Entertainment, HP and Rivian later in the day.

Here is a look at what to expect when the following three companies report results before Wednesday’s opening bell.

Kohl’s

Department store operator Kohl’s Corp. (NYSE: KSS) has posted a 12-month share price decrease of about 48%. The company recently appointed Tom Kingsbury, its interim CEO since Michelle Gass departed in early December, to be its permanent chief executive. The change followed discussions with activist investor Macellum Advisors related to board seats and replacing the company’s board chair. Kingsbury was Macellum’s nominee to become CEO.

Of 18 analysts covering the stock, just four rate the shares a Buy or Strong Buy, and 10 have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $29.50, the stock trades above its median price target of $29.00. At the high price target of $54.00, the upside potential is about 86.2%.

For the retailer’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, analysts are looking for revenue of $6.03 billion, which would up 48.7% sequentially but down 3.1% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.97, up 18.4% sequentially and 55.9% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year that ended in January, analysts have forecast EPS of $2.99, down 59.2%, on sales of $17.54 billion, down about 5.1%.

Kohl’s stock trades at 9.9 times expected 2023 EPS, 9.2 times estimated 2024 earnings of $3.20 and 8.4 times estimated 2025 earnings of $3.52 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $23.38 to $63.74. Kohl’s pays an annual dividend of $2.00 (yield of 6.84%). Total shareholder return over the past year was negative 45.23%.

Lowe’s

Over the past 12 months, the share price of Lowe’s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) has decreased by about 6.1%. Since posting a 52-week high last March, the shares dropped to a 52-week low in June and are down about 9.6% in the past 11 months. Rival Home Depot posted a mixed earnings report last week and raised its dividend, but shares still tumbled on disappointing guidance. Maybe Lowe’s will be looking at a friendlier crystal ball.
Of 34 analysts covering Lowe’s, 19 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. Another 14 rate the stock at Hold. At a share price of around $205.00, the upside potential to a median price target of $235.00 is 14.6%. At the high price target of $300.00, the upside potential is 46.3%.

Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $22.71 billion, down 3.3% sequentially but 6.4% higher year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to come in at $2.21, down 32.3% sequentially and up 24.2% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year that ended in January, analysts expect EPS of $13.73, up 14%, on sales of $97.35 billion, up 1.1%.

Lowe’s stock trades at 15.0 times expected 2023 EPS, 14.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $13.86 and 13.6 times estimated 2025 earnings of $15.12 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $170.12 to $238.37, and the company pays an annual dividend of $4.20 (yield of 2.08%). Total shareholder return for the past year is negative 4.42%.

Nio

Shares of China-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO) have lost about 55% from their price over the past 12 months. Worse, perhaps, is a dip of about 3.7% since the beginning of the year. The company is reportedly building a battery plant that is said to be large enough to supply enough long-range batteries to supply 400,000 vehicles annually. Nio delivered almost 123,000 vehicles last year, an increase of more than a third year over year. That is why the company’s guidance will be so important: When will it build enough cars to soak up its capacity to build all those batteries?

There are 29 analyst ratings on Nio’s stock, and 24 are Buy or Strong Buy. At a price of around $9.40 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $16.48 is around 75.3%. At the high target of $28.09 the upside potential is nearly 200%.


For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, the consensus estimates call for revenue of $2.56 billion, up nearly 40% sequentially and by 64.1% year over year. Nio is expected to post an adjusted loss per share of $0.23, worse than the $0.19 loss in the prior quarter, and worse than the year-ago loss of $0.17 per share. For the full year, the forecast calls for a per-share loss of $0.94, worse than the $0.30 loss in 2021, on sales of $7.31 billion, up about 28.5%.

Analysts estimate that Nio will not produce a profit in 2022, 2023 or 2004. The enterprise value to sales multiple is expected to be 1.8 in 2022. Based on average estimated sales of $13.73 billion and $18.51 billion for 2023 and 2024, respectively, the multiple is 1.0 for 2023 and 0.7 for 2024. The stock’s 52-week range is $8.38 to $24.23. The company does not pay a dividend and the total shareholder return for the past year is negative 55.35%.

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