In the first hour of trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrials were down 0.28%, the S&P 500 down 0.32% and the Nasdaq 0.59% lower.

After U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, Netflix reported earnings per share (EPS) that beat the consensus estimate by a penny but missed on revenue. The company said it will roll out its restrictions on password sharing for U.S. customers and shut down its DVD mail business. Shares traded down by about 2.7% in early trading Wednesday.
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United Airlines posted a smaller-than-expected per-share loss and missed on revenue. The company also issued in-line second-quarter EPS guidance and reaffirmed full fiscal year guidance. Shares traded up 3.6%.

Western Alliance Bancorp beat the consensus EPS estimate and commented that deposits were up $2 billion in the first two weeks of April. Net interest income was $610 million, down from the year-ago total of $639.7 million. Shares traded almost 17% higher Wednesday morning.

Before markets opened on Wednesday, Morgan Stanley beat EPS and revenue estimates even though investment banking revenue fell by 24% year over year. Total revenue was down 1.9% year over year, and profit dropped 19% compared to the first quarter of 2022. Shares traded down 0.4% early Wednesday.

Abbott Labs also beat top-line and bottom-line estimates and projected full-year organic sales growth “at least” in the high single-digit range. Sales of COVID-19-related testing products are forecast at $1.5 billion. Shares traded up about 6.6%.

ASML also beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The semiconductor manufacturing equipment maker also raised revenue guidance for the current quarter and forecast gross margin of 50% to 51%. ASML said it intends to declare a dividend increase. The stock traded down 3.6%.

Baker Hughes beat EPS and revenue estimates and reported that orders increased by 12% year over year in the first quarter. Shares traded up about 2% early Wednesday.

After markets close on Wednesday, IBM, Kinder Morgan, Las Vegas Sands and Tesla are expected to report quarterly results. Look for results from American Express, AT&T and Taiwan Semiconductor on Thursday morning.

Here are previews of five companies set to report results after U.S. markets close on Thursday or before they open on Friday.

CSX

Shares of railroad operator CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX) have fallen by about 12.5% over the past 12 months. That is not as bad as rival Norfolk Southern, which is down more than 20% and nearly 15% this year since a February derailment in Ohio leaked toxic chemicals. But the impact of that incident will be felt by every railroad as the federal regulators tighten safety measures for the companies. The company reports first-quarter results after markets close on Thursday.

The industry lost in an effort to reduce the crew required on a train from two to one, even before the Ohio derailment. On the plus side, CSX reached an agreement with four of its unions on a new sick leave policy. CSX has repurchased $4.7 billion in stock over the past four quarters while borrowing $2 billion to help pay for it.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 17 of 28 having a Buy or Strong Buy rating and 11 more rating it at Hold. At a recent trading price of around $30.40, the upside potential to a median price target of $34.00 is about 11.8%. At a high price target of $39.00, the upside potential rises to 28.3%.
For the first quarter, analysts have forecast revenue at $3.58 billion, which would be down 3.9% sequentially but up 5.0% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.43, down 12.5% sequentially and up by 10.3% year over year. For the full fiscal year, analysts currently forecast EPS of $1.87, down 1.5% year over year, and revenue of $ 14.6 billion, down 1.7%.

CSX stock trades at 16.3 times expected 2023 EPS, 15.0 times estimated 2024 EPS of $2.09 and 14.1 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.15 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $25.80 to $38.17. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.44 (yield of 1.45%). Total shareholder return over the past year is negative 11.35%.
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Freeport-McMoRan

Over the past 12 months, shares of copper and gold miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE: FCX) have fallen by more than 15%. For the year to date, however, shares have added about 13%. Look for its earnings report before markets open on Friday.

Gold prices have risen by about 8.3%, and copper prices are up about 8% so far this year. Commodity trading giant Trafigura has forecast a 2023 price jump of 10% in the price of copper, Freeport’s biggest revenue producer. The trick is going to be reining in ever-higher costs that rose more than 11% at Freeport last year.

Of 20 analysts covering the stock, nine have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and 10 more have Hold ratings. At a share price of around $43.00, the implied upside to a median price target of $47.00 is 9.3%. At the high price target of $60.00, the upside potential reaches 39.5%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $5.25 billion, down 8.9% sequentially and by 9.3% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.45, down 13.4% sequentially and nearly 60% lower year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts are expecting EPS of $1.99, down 18.4%, on sales of $23.39 billion, up 2.7%.

The stock trades at 21.2 times expected 2023 EPS, 18.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $2.25 and 15.2 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.79. The stock’s 52-week range is $24.80 to $50.92. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.60 (yield of 1.42%). Total shareholder return for the past 12 months was negative 15.16%.

Procter & Gamble

Dow stock Procter & Gamble Inc. (NYSE: PG) has posted a share price drop of about 3.5% over the past 12 months. From a 52-week low posted in early October last year, shares have risen by more than 24%. The world’s largest consumer products maker has history and dozens of world-class brands to lean on if times should get worse. People have to eat, after all, and all the AI development in the world will not change that. P&G has raised its dividend payment every year for 66 consecutive years, a true Aristocrat. It reports quarterly results early Friday morning.

Of 26 analysts covering the stock, 18 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and seven have Hold ratings. At a share price of around $151.40, the upside potential based on a median price target of $160.00 is 2.7%. At the high price target of $172.00, the implied gain is 13.6%.

Analysts expect P&G to report fiscal 2023 third-quarter revenue of $20.34 billion, down 7.1% sequentially but up by 1.3% year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $1.32, down 16.8% sequentially and down a penny year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in June, current estimates call for EPS of $5.86, up 0.8%, on sales of $80.94 billion, up 0.9%.

P&G shares trade at 25.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 23.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $6.35 and 21.8 times estimated 2025 earnings of $6.94 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $122.18 to $164.90. P&G pays an annual dividend of $3.76 (yield of 2.49%). Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 1.31%.

Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) stock has dropped by about 9.8% to its value over the past year, including a drop of 12.4% for the year to date. The stock began dropping as soon as the chatter began in early March about Silicon Valley Bank and fell by about 24% by late March. Institutional investors own nearly 80% of the company’s float, and they have been slow to get back in the water following the shark attack on regional banks. A good report Friday morning may get the smart money back in the game.

Of the 27 analysts covering the bank, 15 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the others rate the stock at Hold. At a share price of around $18.90, the upside potential to a median price target of $22.00 is 16.4%. At the high price target of $27.50, the upside potential is 45.5%.

Analysts expect Regions to post first-quarter revenue of $1.96 billion, down 2.5% sequentially but 21.7% higher year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.64, down 4.8% sequentially and up 16.4% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, Regions is expected to report revenue of $7.78 billion, up 7.2%, and EPS of $2.43, up 2.6%.

The stock trades at 7.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 8.0 times estimated 2024 earnings of $2.37 and 8.7 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.17 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $13.94 to $24.33. The bank pays an annual dividend of $0.80 (yield of 4.22%). Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 6.45%.

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Schlumberger

The largest U.S.-based oilfield services company, Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), has seen its stock price rise by more than 19% over the past 12 months, hammering rivals Halliburton (down 19.6%) and Baker Hughes (down 19.3%) over the period. Partly that may be due to Schlumberger’s decision not to leave its Russian business, something that both Halliburton and Baker Hughes have done. The company employs around 10,000 people in Russia, and the country delivered about 6% of company profits through the first nine months of 2022. Schlumberger reports quarterly results Friday morning.

Analysts remain solidly bullish. Of 30 brokerages covering the stock, 26 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The other four rate the stock at Hold. At a price of around $52.00 a share, the implied upside based on a median price target of $65.00 is about 23.1%. At the high target of $75.00, the upside potential is 44.2%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $7.46 billion, down 5.4% sequentially and up 25.2% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.61, down 14.2% sequentially but 79.4% higher year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts expect Schlumberger to post EPS of $3.04, up 39.4%, on sales of $32.73 billion, up 16.5%.

Schlumberger shares trade at 17.1 times expected 2023 EPS, 13.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $3.77 and 11.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $4.34 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $30.65 to $62.78. Schlumberger pays an annual dividend of $1.00 (yield of 1.9%). Over the past 12 months, total shareholder return was 20.75%.

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