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Earnings Previews: BioNTech, Tyson Foods, Warner Bros Discovery

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In the first half-hour of Thursday’s trading, the Dow Jones industrials were down 0.38%, the S&P 500 traded 0.35% and the Nasdaq 0.31% lower.

After U.S. markets closed on Wednesday, Qualcomm missed the consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) but beat the forecast for revenue. The company said demand will continue to deteriorate, especially for smartphones, and that it is not seeing any recovery in Chinese sales. Shares traded down 7.6% Thursday morning.

Albemarle beat the EPS estimate but missed on revenue. Guidance for fiscal year EPS came in below the consensus estimate, while revenue guidance was in line with expectations. Shares traded up 3.4%.

Before markets opened on Thursday, ConocoPhillips failed to meet the consensus revenue estimate but beat the EPS estimate by 15%. Shares traded up 1.0%.

Constellation Energy missed the consensus EPS estimate by nearly 70% on a year-over-year revenue increase of 35%. Shares traded up about 0.7%.

Paramount Global missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines. The worse news for investors was a cut to the quarterly dividend from $0.24 per share to $0.05. Shares traded down more than 22% early Thursday.

Apple and Block will report quarterly earnings after markets close Thursday, while AMC and Enbridge are on deck to report results first thing Friday morning.


There are no earnings reports scheduled for release Friday afternoon. Here is a look at two companies set to report results before U.S. markets open on Monday morning, as well as one that we missed that will report results early Friday.

BioNTech

Germany-based BioNTech S.E. (NASDAQ: BNTX) and Pfizer developed one of the first COVID-19 vaccines, driving the German company’s share price up by more than 800%. Shares are still up by nearly 150% over the past three years since that August 2021 peak. In the past 12 months, however, shares have fallen by about 26.2%. The company reports results on Monday morning.

On Tuesday, Poland’s health minister sent a letter to Pfizer shareholders detailing his argument to scuttle an agreement with BioNTech and Pfizer that would deliver hundreds of millions of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to European Union nations, doses for which demand has cratered. The drugmakers have countered with an offer to reduce the number of doses, although the reduction would require a cancellation fee of $10 per dose, half the price specified in the original contract. BioNTech has said it now plans to invest in developing mRNA products in the fight against cancer.

Of 17 analysts covering the stock, eight have a Hold rating and nine rate it at Buy or Strong Buy. At a recent price of around $110.00 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $155.11 is 41%. At the high target of $265.35, the upside potential is about 141.2%.

First-quarter revenue is expected to come in at $1.21 billion, which would be down 73.5% sequentially and by 82.8% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.78, down 92.2% sequentially and down from $15.75 in the year-ago quarter. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts expect BioNTech to report EPS of $6.95, down 83.6%, on sales of $6.58 billion, down 64.5%.

BioNTech stock trades at 15.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 22.5 times estimated 2024 earnings of $4.88 and 43.5 times estimated 2025 earnings of $2.53 per share. Its 52-week trading range is $109.96 to $188.99. The company’s total return to shareholders over the past year was negative 22.49%.

Tyson Foods

A global supplier of beef, chicken, pork and prepared foods, Tyson Foods Inc. (NYSE: TSN) stock has shed nearly a third of its share price over the past 12 months. Late last month, the company announced that it would cut 10% of its jobs at corporate headquarters in Arkansas and 15% of its senior leadership staff, including vice presidents and senior vice presidents. Cutting costs and finding better leaders are expected to lead to more efficient (and profitable) operations. Tyson reports results on Monday morning.

Of 13 analysts covering the stock, four have ratings of Buy or Strong Buy and seven have Hold ratings. At a share price of around $60.50, the implied gain based on a median price target of $65.00 is 7.4%. At the high price target of $103.00, the implied gain is 70.2%.

For Tyson’s second quarter of fiscal 2023, analysts expect revenue of $13.62 billion, up 2.7% sequentially and 2.6% higher year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.80, down 5.9% sequentially and down 65% year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in September, Tyson is expected to report EPS of $4.34, down 50.2%, on sales of $55.05 billion, up 3.3%. In the December quarter, EPS dropped by 70% year over year.

Tyson trades at 13.9 times expected 2023 EPS, 10.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $5.60 and 8.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $6.79 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $55.80 to $94.77. The company pays an annual dividend of $1.92 (yield of 3.08%). The total shareholder return over the past year was negative 30.99%.

Warner Bros. Discovery

Media company Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (NASDAQ: WBD), created following the April 2022 merger of Discovery with AT&T’s WarnerMedia, posted a 52-week low in late December and has managed to rise by about 35% from that trough. Look for the earnings report on Friday morning.

Deadline reported earlier this week that the company had reached a licensing deal with Canada’s Bell Media for streaming rights in Canada to Warner properties like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the DC Universe and HBO (soon to be called Max) content. Programming will be streamed on Bell Media’s Crave network.

Among 26 analysts covering the stock, there are nine Hold ratings and 16 ratings of Buy or Strong Buy. At a share price of around $12.50, the implied upside based on a median price target of $19.50 is 56%. At the high price target of $36.00, the implied gain is 188%.


First-quarter revenue is forecast at $10.77 billion, down 2.2% sequentially but up from $3.16 billion year over year for Discovery only. Analysts are looking for an adjusted loss of $0.12 per share. The estimates for the full year call for a loss per share of $0.28 on sales of $43.60 billion. For 2022, the company reported revenue of $33.82 billion and a loss per share of $1.67.

Warner Bros. Discovery stock trades at 28.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $0.45 and 16.2 times estimated 2025 earnings of $0.79 per share. The stock’s post-merger range is $8.82 to $20.08. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year is negative 33.42%.

 

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