After U.S. markets closed Thursday afternoon, railroad operator CSX met the consensus estimate for earnings per share (EPS) and barely missed the Street’s revenue estimate. Intermodal (container) volume was down 18% year over year. Shares closed up 0.55% Friday.

Intuitive Surgical reported better-than-expected EPS and revenue, but sales of its da Vinci robotic surgery device did not rise to the level investors were hoping for. The stock closed up 0.29% Friday afternoon.

Before U.S. markets opened Friday morning, American Express beat the Street’s EPS estimate but missed by about 2.3% on revenue. Year over year, however, revenue was up more than 12% to a record, and EPS reached an all-time high. Credit card spending reached an all-time high, and the company added another $100 million to its credit loss provision, bringing its total backstopping fund to $1.2 billion. Shares closed up 0.09% Friday.

Schlumberger, like Amex, beat on profits and missed on revenue. The EPS beat was a single penny while adjusted EBITDA rose by 10% sequentially and 28% year over year. Expenses, however, rose 16.7% sequentially and 20.8% year over year. Diluted EPS was higher sequentially but down 47% year over year. The stock traded down 0.05% Friday afternoon.

There were no earnings reported after U.S. markets closed Friday, and none will be issued Monday morning’s opening bell. After U.S. markets close Monday afternoon, Cadence Systems, Cleveland-Cliffs, and NXP Semiconductor will report quarterly results. 3M Company, General Electric, and GE HealthCare will report quarterly results.

Here’s a look at three companies, including another Dow 30 component, set to report quarterly results before U.S. markets open Tuesday morning.

General Motors

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) has seen its share price rise by 9.7% over the past year, including a boost of 14.6% so far in 2023. That’s better than Ford’s share price increase of more than 7% but far short of Stellantis’s boost of 41.2%. GM has opened new contract talks with the United Autoworkers. The deadline for an agreement is September 14, and a certain bone of contention will be the company’s Ultium battery joint venture with LG Electronics. Ultium received $2.6 billion in infrastructure funding from the federal government to build a new plant in Lansing, Michigan, to match two existing plants, one in Lordstown, Ohio, and the other in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The big news, though, is initial delivery of GM’s Silverado EV pickup trucks. The pricey RST First edition is due out this fall at a sticker price of more than $106,000. After production ramps next year, the base price for the Silverado EV is expected to be around $41,600.

Analysts like the company’s prospects. Of 25 brokers covering the stock, 15 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating on the shares, and another 9 rate the stock a Hold. At a current price of around $38.60, the upside potential based on a median price target of $46.00 is 19.2%. At the high price target of $89.00, the upside potential is about 131%.

Second-quarter revenue is forecast at $42.36 billion, up 5.9% sequentially and up 18.5% year over year. Adjusted EPS is forecast at $1.83, down 17.2% sequentially and up 60.5% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, consensus estimates call for EPS of $7.04, down 17.2%, on revenue of $166.87 billion, up 6.5%.

GM stock trades at a multiple of 5.5 times expected 2023 EPS, 5.9 times estimated 2024 earnings of $6.57, and 5.4 times estimated 2025 earnings of $7.19 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $31.11 to $43.63. GM does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past year was 10.79%.

NextEra Energy

Shares of regulated electricity company NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) have declined by about 3.8% over the past 12 months. And its dividend yield is among the lowest of regulated power generators at just under 2.5%, about half the yield of Dominion. The company’s focus on renewables is expected to pay off even more as demand for wind and solar generation rises to a forecast 33% of global power generation by the end of the decade. NextEra is the world leader in wind and solar and expects to eliminate its carbon emissions by 2045.

Of the 21 ratings on NextEra stock, 16 are Buy or Strong Buy. The other 5 analysts rate the stock a Hold. At a current price of around $76.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $90.00 is about 18.4%. At the high price target of $108.00, the implied gain is 42.1%.

Second-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $6.17 billion, down 8.1% sequentially and up 19.1% year over year. Adjusted EPS is forecast at $0.82, down 2.6% sequentially and up a penny year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, current estimates call for EPS of $3.11, up 7.3%, on sales of $25.42 billion, up 21.3%.

NextEra shares trade at a multiple of 24.4 times expected 2023 EPS, 22.3 times estimated 2024 earnings of $3.40, and 20.6 times estimated 2025 earnings of $3.69 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $69.64 to $91.35, and NextEra pays an annual dividend of $1.87 (yield of 2.6%). Total shareholder return over the past 12 months was negative 1.55%.

Verizon

Dow 30 stock Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) has dropped 28.9% from its share price over the past 12 months, including a plunge of nearly 9% in the month of July alone. The latest weight on the shares is a report that the company may be on the hook for damages related to lead-sheathed transmission wires that have been left buried and unused for decades. Legal risks have soared. The issue for Verizon and AT&T is the impact of potential lawsuits on the two companies’ generous dividends.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Analysts are cautious on the stock. Of 29 brokerages, only 8 have Buy or Strong Buy ratings on the stock, and 20 have given the shares a Hold rating. At a current price of around $34.00, the implied gain based on a median price target of $41.00 is 20.6%. At the high price target of $64.00, the potential upside is 77.2%.

Second-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $33.32 billion, up 1.3% sequentially and down 1.4% year over year. Adjusted EPS is forecast at $1.17, down 2.7% sequentially and down by 10.7% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, analysts currently expect Verizon to post EPS of $4.68, down 9.6%, on sales of $135.1 billion, down 1.3%.

Verizon stock trades at a multiple of 7.2 times expected 2023 EPS, 7.2 times estimated 2024 earnings of $4.68, and 7.1 times estimated 2025 earnings of $4.80 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $31.25 to $47.88. Verizon pays an annual dividend of $2.61 (yield of 7.7%). Total shareholder return over the past 12 months was negative 24.03%. Verizon was the top dog among 2023’s Dogs of the Dow.

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