Anyone who thought the week before Christmas would be a quiet one was not paying attention. The action reached high gear after markets closed on Tuesday.
FedEx stumbles
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The nation’s number two (by market cap) package delivery company, FedEx Inc. (NYSE: FDX), is taking a beating in Wednesday’s premarket trading session after missing analysts’ second fiscal quarter estimates on both EPS and revenue. Year over year. revenue for the November quarter was down 2.8% and missed the consensus estimate by less than 1%.
Shares are sinking on a weak outlook for fiscal 2024 ending in May. FedEx expects revenue to decline by a low-single-digit percentage year over year. The EPS forecast calls for GAAP earnings of $15.35 to $16.85, well short of the consensus estimate of $17.83. Adjusted earnings are forecast in a range of $17.00 to $18.50. Both exclude an expected accounting adjustment related to the company’s retirement plans. (Customers are abandoning these 25 brands.)
FedEx stock traded down by about 11% in Wednesday’s premarket at about $249.90 in a 52-week range of $162.61 to $285.53. The high was posted on Monday.
Micron earnings
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Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) reports earnings after markets close Wednesday. Analysts expect sequential revenue growth of 15.5% and even stronger EBITDA growth of 75.5%. Revenue is forecast to rise by 13.5% year over year in the company’s fiscal first quarter.
Micron’s loss per share is forecast to improve sequentially by six cents per share to $1.01 but drop by $0.97 per share to post a November quarter loss.
Pricing for the company’s chips is improving, but it has yet to filter through to the bottom line. Micron has posted an adjusted loss per share in four consecutive quarters, and analysts expect that string to run to seven before turning positive in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024.
The stock’s 52-week range is $48.43 to $82.99, and shares closed on Tuesday at $82.17. The high was posted last Friday.
Carnival cruising
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Cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. & PLC (NYSE: CCL) has had a stellar year, reducing its loss per share from $4.67 in fiscal 2022 to an estimated 2023 loss of just $0.06 per share. The company reports fourth-quarter results before U.S. markets open on Thursday.
Analysts have forecast revenue to rise by 37.5% year over year to $5.28 billion. After posting EPS of $0.86 in the third quarter, analysts are calling for a loss per share of $0.13 in the November quarter.
Carnival is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and fiscal 2023 revenue should be better than 2019’s total of $20.83 billion. The share price, however, remains down by about two-thirds since late February 2019.
That is due to a tripling of long-term debt since the pandemic from $9.7 billion to $29.5 billion. Carnival actually has paid down $10 billion in debt, but it still has a long way to go before it reaches a point where it can resume dividend payments.
The stock closed at $18,71 on Tuesday in a 52-week range of $7.53 to $19.55.
Nike slows down
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After U.S. markets close Thursday, Dow 30 component Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) is expected to report year-over-year revenue growth of 0.9% and adjusted EPS that is flat with the second fiscal quarter of 2023. On a sequential basis, the consensus estimates call for revenue to rise by 3.8% and EPS to fall by 9.6%.
The good news may have to wait until the February quarter. Nike reportedly drew lots of shoppers without having to resort to heavy promotional pricing. That will help the November quarter, but the big payoff should come in February. Investors will be listening closely to the company’s outlook comments.
Nike stock closed at $122.64 on Tuesday in a 52-week range of $88.66 to $131.31. Since posting its 52-week high in early February, the shares have dropped by about 4%.
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