U.S. markets were closed on Monday, and no earnings reports were released on Friday.

After markets close Tuesday, GitLab and Zscaler are scheduled to release quarterly earnings reports.
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Here is a preview of what analysts are looking for when the following five firms report results after U.S. markets close on Wednesday.

American Eagle Outfitters

Specialty retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) has seen its share price rise by nearly 25% over the past 12 months, with the lion’s share of that gain coming this calendar year.

The mall store operator has beaten analysts’ sales forecasts in each of the past four quarters while managing to beat earnings per share (EPS) forecasts twice and matching estimates twice. The company boosted its revenue and EPS guidance early in August, so investors are expecting big things. American Eagle now needs to deliver.

Of 12 analysts covering the stock, just three rate it as a Buy or Strong Buy, while another seven have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $17.00, the stock trades above its median price target of $14.50. At the high price target of $22.00, the implied upside is 29.4%.

Second-quarter 2024 revenue is expected to come in at $1.2 billion, which would be up 11.0% sequentially and flat year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast to decline by 6.3% sequentially but rise from $0.04 last year to $0.16. For the full year, analysts expect EPS of $1.08, up 11.6%, on sales of $5 billion, up 0.3% year over year.

The stock trades at 16.0 times expected 2024 EPS, 14.7 times estimated 2025 earnings of $1.18 and 12.8 times estimated 2026 earnings of $1.35 per share. Its 52-week trading range is $9.46 to $17.39. American Eagle pays an annual dividend of $0.40 (yield of 2.30%), and the total shareholder return for the past year was 57.45%.

ChargePoint

Electric vehicle (EV) charging network provider ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) has dropped more than half its share price over the past 12 months, including a drop of 22% for the calendar year to date. Since reporting first-quarter results in early June, the stock is down 18%.

When Tesla announced that it would open its charging network to all EVs, that set ChargePoint and rival Blink on a scramble that is costing the two companies millions to upgrade their equipment. The upgrade is not due only to Tesla, but the companies’ own networks have experienced reliability problems, and consumers are not happy.

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 share price of around $7.50, the stock’s implied upside based on a median price target of $14.00 is 86.7%. At the high price target of $27.00, the implied upside is about 260%.
Revenue is forecast to reach $125.83 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024, up 17.5% sequentially and by 41.1% year over year. Analysts expect a loss per share of $0.13, compared to a loss per share of $0.15 in the prior quarter and a loss of $0.18 in the year-ago quarter. For the full fiscal year that ends in January, ChargePoint is expected to post a loss per share of $0.48, better than the prior year’s per-share loss of $0.69. Forecast full-year revenue of $678.54 million is up 45% year over year.
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The company is not expected to post a profit in 2024 or 2025. The price multiple for 2026 is 154, based on an earnings estimate of $0.05 per share. The 52-week trading range is $6.65 to $19.92, and the company does not pay a dividend. The total shareholder return for the past year was negative 51.27%.

C3.ai

C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI) bills itself as an enterprise AI software company offering a platform and environment that its customers use to build and deploy AI applications. The share price has more than doubled over the past 12 months and is up 179% since the beginning of 2023.

For investors, the big question is whether or not C3.ai can actually show a beat on expectations and a hike in its guidance. The reasoning appears to be that if Nvidia, with its $1 trillion+ market cap can beat estimates and raise guidance even more, C3.ai, with a market cap of around $4 billion, should be able to duplicate those results.

Analysts remain cautious on the stock, with eight of 14 brokerages rating it at Hold and only two having a Buy or Strong Buy rating. At a price of around $31.00, the shares already trade above their median price target of $24.50. At the high price target of $50.00, the implied upside is 61.3%.

For the company’s first quarter of fiscal 2024, analysts expect revenue of $71.6 million, down 1.1% sequentially but 9.6% higher year over year. C3.ai is forecast to post a quarterly loss per share of $0.17, compared to the prior quarter’s loss of $0.13 and a year-ago loss of $0.11 per share. For the full fiscal year that ends next April, the loss per share estimate is $0.30, down from a loss per share of $0.42 in 2023, on sales of $305.63 million, up 14.6%.

C3.ai is not expected to post a profit in its 2024 year. The stock currently trades at 461.6 times estimated 2025 earnings of $0.07 per share and 87.5 times estimated 2026 earnings of $0.36. The stock’s 52-week range is $10.16 to $48.87. The company does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past year was 115.01%.

GameStop

Video gaming retailer GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) has watched its share price fall by about 33% over the past 12 months. Since reporting first-quarter earnings in early June, the stock is down 14%.

Just ahead of the Labor Day weekend, GameStop offered customers a gaming keyboard/mouse package for $20, a savings of 60% based on the regular price of $50, and the company has already announced a Pokemon giveaway for next month. Huge discounts and giveaways are not going to help GameStop’s struggling top line.

Maybe Executive Chair Ryan Cohen had GameStop’s top line in mind when said in a weekend tweet that gaming consoles should be required to include a disk drive because “consumers have also invested their hard-earning money in to physical video games.” GameStop sells physical video gaming equipment and physical disks. Hmmm.
Just two analysts have anything to say on the stock. One has a Sell rating and the other has a Hold rating. At a share price of around $18.70, the stock trades above its median price target of $13.10. At the high target of $20.00, the upside potential is 7.0%. About 19% of GameStop’s shares are sold short, and the current borrow fee is about 3.9%. Both these numbers are dropping.
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Second-quarter revenue is forecast at $1.14 billion, down 7.8% sequentially and flat year over year. Analysts expect GameStop to report an adjusted loss per share of $0.14, again, flat compared to the prior quarter and better than the year-ago loss of $0.35. For the full 2024 fiscal year that ends in January, analysts forecast an adjusted loss per share of $0.26, compared to the prior-year loss of $1.02 per share, and sales of $5.71 billion, down 3.7%.

GameStop is not expected to post a profit in either fiscal 2024 or 2025. Based on estimates of GameStop’s sales ranging between $5.57 billion and $5.77 billion for the two fiscal years, the enterprise value to sales multiple is 0.9. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $15.41 to $34.99. GameStop does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year was negative 32.03%.

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UiPath

UiPath Inc. (NYSE: PATH) makes and sells a robotic automation platform. Over the past 12 months, shares have dipped by about 2.2%, including a share price increase of 24.4% since the beginning of the year.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest holds some 48.3 million UiPath shares, and the stock is ARK’s fifth largest holding, accounting for about 5.2% of its total portfolio. Over the past four quarters, ARK has purchased a net 10.7 million shares at average prices ranging from $17.54 to $16.04. Even though ARK is way down on its investment in UiPath, Wood has not given up on the business.

Of 21 analysts covering the stock, eight have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and 13 have Hold ratings. At a share price of around $16.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $18.00 is 12.5%. At the high price target of $25.00, the upside potential reaches more than 56%.

UiPath is expected to report second-quarter revenue of $282.07 million, down 2.6% sequentially but up 16.5% year over year. Analysts anticipate EPS of $0.03, down 70.2% sequentially and up from a year-ago loss per share of $0.02. For the full 2024 fiscal year ending in January, estimates call for EPS of $0.34, up 143.5%, and sales of $1.27 billion, up 19.6%.

The company’s stock trades at 46.7 times expected 2024 earnings, 40.3 times estimated 2025 earnings of $0.40 and 30.2 times estimated 2026 earnings of $0.53 per share. The 52-week range is $10.40 to $19.94. UiPath does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year is negative 1.36%.

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