In early regular-session trading Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrials were up 0.42%, the S&P 500 up 0.74% and the Nasdaq 1.06% higher.

After U.S. markets closed on Wednesday, Meta Platforms beat top-line and bottom-line estimates as revenue bounced to year-over-year growth after three consecutive quarters of year-over-year declines. Advertising revenue growth, alongside thousands of previously announced job cuts, offers investors a potent combination for profit growth going forward. Shares traded up 14.7% early Thursday.
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Antero Resources beat Wall Street’s consensus earnings per share (EPS) and revenue estimates. Shares traded down about 3.6%.

EQT also beat top-line and bottom-line estimates, but revenue fell by 26% year over year. Shares traded up 7.8%.

Before markets opened on Thursday, AbbVie missed consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines and issued in-line guidance for fiscal 2023 EPS. Shares traded down 6.7%.

Altria matched its expected EPS number but missed on revenue. First-quarter revenue dropped 1.2% year over year. Shares traded down 2.5%.

American Airlines exceeded analysts’ consensus EPS estimate but fell short on revenue. Year over year, revenue increased by 37%. Shares traded up 3.2%.

Merck beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The pharmaceutical firm issued fiscal-year earnings and revenue guidance that were in line with analysts’ estimates. Shares traded up 0.4%.

Caterpillar also beat estimates on the top and bottom lines, and revenue increased by nearly 17% year over year. Shares traded down about 4.1%.

Newmont missed the consensus revenue estimate but beat the EPS forecast by 20%. Shares traded up 0.2%.

Peabody Energy topped consensus estimates for both EPS and revenue. The coal miner announced a $1 billion share buyback program and said it completed prefunding of all its closure and reclamation obligations. Shares traded up 0.8% Thursday morning.

After markets close on Thursday, Amazon, First Solar, Intel and T-Mobile will report quarterly results. Then, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and U.S. Steel are on deck to report quarterly results the following morning.

Here are previews of three companies set to report results first thing Monday morning.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) had staged a decent comeback in 2023, until it reported fourth-quarter results. From a peak year-to-date gain of around 50% in mid-February, the stock has dropped nearly 30%. When Norwegian reported fourth-quarter results at the end of February, the company guided its first-quarter loss below the consensus estimate and said that costs would continue to rise. Higher borrowing costs could make taking on more debt problematic as the company struggles to recover from the pandemic.
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Of 19 analysts covering the stock, 10 have a Buy rating and seven have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $12.50, the upside potential based on a median price target of $16.50 is 32%. At the high target of $27.00, the implied gain is 116%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $1.75 billion, which would be up 14.9% sequentially and more than triple the revenue in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expect the company to post a per-share loss of $0.43, better than the prior quarter’s loss of $1.04 per share and well below the year-ago quarterly loss of $1.82. For the full year, Norwegian is expected to post EPS of $0.74, compared to last year’s loss of $6.64 per share. Revenue is forecast to reach $8.5 billion, up 75.5%.

Norwegian stock trades at 16.9 times expected 2023 earnings, 8.1 times estimated 2024 earnings of $1.54 and 5.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.12 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $10.31 to $21.05, and the company does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 37.13%.

ON Semiconductor

Chipmaker ON Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ: ON) posted an all-time high share price in early February. The stock is up 40% over the past 12 months, including a 15% gain to date in 2023.

The not-so-good news is that the share price has fallen by more than 12% so far in April on reports that U.S. automakers could cut chip orders by as much as 20% in the current quarter due to a lack of demand for new cars. And that comes just after the shortage of automotive chips finally began to untangle. What appears to be happening is that the industry’s ability to produce chips has met up with automakers’ demands at a lower point than hoped for.

Of the 29 analysts covering the stock, 20 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating on it. The others rate the stock at Hold. At a share price of around $72.00, the implied upside based on a median price target of $93.00 is 29.2%. At the high price target of $105.00, the implied gain is 45.8%.
First-quarter revenue is forecast at $1.93 billion, down 8.5% sequentially and by 1.0% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $1.08, down 17.8% sequentially and 11.5% lower year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts have estimated EPS of $4.41, down 17.2%, on sales of $7.9 billion, down 5.1%.
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The stock trades at a multiple of 16.3 times expected 2023 EPS, 14.0 times estimated 2024 earnings of $5.14 and 11.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $6.02 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $44.76 to $87.55. The chipmaker does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return over the past year was 40.09%.

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SoFi Technologies

Decentralized financial services firm SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFI) has posted a share price drop of almost 10% over the past 12 months. The good news for investors is that the stock has added 23% since the beginning of 2023.

SoFi filed suit against the U.S. Department of Education, seeking an end to the pause on student loan repayments that was initiated during the pandemic. The company’s core business was refinancing student loans at a lower interest rate for borrowers who met its guidelines. No one is refinancing student loans now because repayments would begin immediately on the new loan.

Of 15 analysts covering the stock, nine have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the other six have Hold ratings. At a share price of around $5.70, the upside potential based on a median price target of $8.00 is 40.3%. At the high target of $14.00, the upside potential is about 145%.

Analysts expect the company to report first-quarter revenue of $437.4 million, down 1.4% sequentially but up 36.0% year over year. Sofi is expected to post a loss per share of $0.08, double the prior quarter’s loss, but better than the year-ago quarterly loss of $0.11. For the 2023 fiscal year, analysts expect an adjusted loss of $0.23 per share, compared with a loss per share of $0.33 last year. Revenue for the year is pegged at $1.95 billion, up 27.5%.

SoFi is not expected to post a profit in 2023 or 2024. Based on estimated 2025 EPS of $0.18, the stock trades at a multiple of 31.4 times that estimate. The stock’s 52-week range is $4.24 to $8.52, and SoFi does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year is negative 7.47%.

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