Investing

Earnings Previews: ChargePoint, Costco, Nordstrom

Costco Wholesale store
J. Michael Jones / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

In late morning trading on Wednesday, Dow Jones industrials were down 0.45%, the S&P 500 down 0.76% and the Nasdaq down 0.9%.

After U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, AMC Entertainment reported mixed results, beating the consensus earnings per share (EPS) estimate but missing on revenue. The company’s coming vote related to increasing share count is considerably more important than AMC’s results. But isn’t everything? Shares traded down 8.6% shortly before noon.

Rivian Automotive also reported mixed results. It beat bottom-line expectations while missing on revenue. Another recall stings but does not change the company’s story. Shares traded down 17.7%.

HP met Wall Street’s EPS estimate but missed on revenue. The company does not expect 2023 to be a year of recovery for the personal computer industry. In fact, industry sales for the year may fall back to pre-pandemic levels. The stock traded down 2.2%.

Before U.S. markets opened on Wednesday, Kohl’s missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines. And the numbers were not even close. In its outlook, Kohl’s also came up short, issuing downside earnings and revenue guidance for the 2024 fiscal year that ends in January. Shares traded down 1.9%.

Lowe’s beat the EPS estimate but missed on revenue, although revenue was up 5% year over year. Fiscal 2024 EPS guidance was in line with analysts’ consensus estimate but revenue guidance was a bit short. Same-store sales are forecast to be flat to down 2%. Shares traded down more than 6%.

Nio missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines and issued downside guidance for the first quarter. The stock traded down about 5%.

After U.S. markets close on Wednesday, Plug Power, Salesforce and Snowflake are scheduled to report quarterly results. Then, Kroger and Macy’s are on deck to report first thing Thursday morning, with Broadcom, Dell, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Marvell following later in the day.


Here is a look at what to expect from three more companies set to report quarterly earnings after Thursday’s closing bell.

ChargePoint

EV charging network provider ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) has seen its stock price drop by nearly 21% over the past 12 months. The stock won back about half its losses in just three months. The bounce higher began in late December and shares have added more than 18% since then. ChargePoint’s shares did well until Tesla announced that it would make all its charging stations compatible with other EV makers’ vehicles. The company’s recently announced partnership with Fisker gave shares another bounce.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 14 of 19 brokerages having a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the other five rating it at Hold. At a recent share price of around $11.00, the stock’s implied upside based on a median price target of $18.00 is 63.6%. At the high price target of $46.00, the implied upside is more than 300%.

Revenue is forecast to reach $164.53 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, up 31.3% sequentially and by 103.0% year over year. Analysts are expecting a loss per share of $0.16, a one-penny improvement sequentially and year over year. For the full fiscal year that ended in January, ChargePoint is expected to post a loss per share of $0.72, worse than the prior year’s per-share loss of $0.61. Forecast full-year revenue of $479.01 million is up 97.7% from last year’s actual revenue.

The company is not expected to post a profit in 2023, 2024 or 2025. ChargePoint’s enterprise value to sales multiple for 2023 is 7.9, dipping to 5.0 in 2024 and 3.3 in 2025. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $8.07 to $20.99, and the company does not pay a dividend. The total shareholder return for the past year was negative 21.06%.

Costco

Shares of Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) have slipped by nearly 8% over the past 12 months, including a year-to-date increase of around 4.7%. The company recently dropped its online photo service (Costco dropped its in-store service two years ago), and customers who failed to move their photos to Shutterfly by the end of January lost them. Not very customer friendly. Some analysts believe a hike in membership fees is about to come. Because the fees travel almost completely to the bottom line, the prior quarter’s EPS miss may give Costco the incentive to pull the trigger on a higher fee.

Analysts are generally positive on the stock, with 25 of 37 having a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The other 12 rate the stock at Hold. At a share price of around $479.00, the upside based on a median price target of $551.00 is 15%. At the high price target of $635.00, the upside potential is 32.6%.

Revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 is forecast at $55.61 billion, up 2.2% sequentially and by 7.1% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $3.20, up 3.2% sequentially and 9.6% higher year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in August, estimates call for EPS of $14.29, up 7.7%, on sales of $244.08 billion, up 7.6%.

Costco stock trades at 33.5 times expected 2023 EPS, 30.0 times estimated 2024 earnings of $15.95 and 26.4 times estimated 2025 earnings of $18.15 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $406.51 to $612.27. The company pays an annual dividend of $3.60 (yield of 0.74%). Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 7.64%.

Nordstrom

Department store operator Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) shares the stage with Kohl’s and Macy’s this week, with all three reporting results. Kohl’s had a tough quarter, but the shares did not suffer much. Macy’s reports earnings on Thursday morning, and the comparison with last year’s results is not good. Shares got a boost when activist investor Ryan Cohen took a sizable stake in the company. The Nordstrom family, however, owns around 30% of the outstanding stock, so making changes could be harder than it was for Cohen at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Analysts are wary. Of 22 brokerages covering the stock, 14 have a Hold rating and only 3 have Buy ratings. At a price of around $19.00 a share, the stock trades close to its median price target of $19.50. At the high price target of $40.00, the upside potential is about 110%.


For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 that ended in January, revenue is forecast at $4.33 billion, up 22.2% sequentially but down 3.6% year over year. Analysts have forecast earnings per EPS of $0.67 for the quarter, up 233.5% sequentially and almost 50% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year, consensus estimates call for EPS of $1.62, up 8%, on sales of $15.54 billion, up 5.1%.

Nordstrom stock trades at 11.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 10.3 times estimated 2024 earnings of $1.86 and 10.3 times estimated 2025 earnings of $1.87 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $15.53 to $29.59. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.76 (yield of 3.92%). Total shareholder return for the past year was 1.39%.

Want to Retire Early? Start Here (Sponsor)

Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?

Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.

Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.

 

Have questions about retirement or personal finance? Email us at [email protected]!

By emailing your questions to 24/7 Wall St., you agree to have them published anonymously on a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.

By submitting your story, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.