Earnings Previews: Applied Materials, Catalent, Deere, Foot Locker

Shortly after Wednesday’s opening bell, the Dow Jones industrials were trading up 0.44%, the S&P 500 up 0.47% and the Nasdaq 0.34% higher.

After U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, Kyndryl reported a much wider-than-expected loss per share but beat the consensus revenue estimate by 2.5%. Though revenue fell 4% year over year, it was up 1% in constant currency. In its outlook for the 2024 fiscal year that began in April, the company said it expected revenue to decline by 6% to 8% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA and pretax margin are expected to improve somewhat. Shares were down 11.1% in morning trading.

Star Bulk Carriers missed the consensus revenue estimate but beat the earnings per share (EPS) forecast by nearly 26%. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35, payable on June 7. That is $0.05 higher than the dividend paid in the year-ago quarter and will bring the total dividend payment for the trailing four quarters to $3.80, but the company’s variable dividend policy is likely to improve as the year plays out. Shares traded up about 5.8%

Before U.S. markets opened on Wednesday, Target reported EPS that was 16% higher than the consensus estimate, but it missed the revenue estimate by 0.9%. The big-box retailer also issued downside guidance for the current quarter’s EPS while maintaining prior guidance. Shares traded up 0.9%.

TJX also beat its expected EPS number (by 7%) and missed the revenue estimate (by 0.3%). Revenue was up 3.3% year over year. The company issued downside EPS guidance for the current quarter and for the fiscal year. Shares traded up 0.5%.

After U.S. markets close on Wednesday, Cisco and SQM will report earnings. Alibaba, Bath & Body Works and KE Holdings are on deck the following morning, along with Dow component Walmart.

Here is what to expect when the following four companies report quarterly results late Thursday or first thing Friday morning.

Applied Materials

Shares of semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) have added 9.5% over the past 12 months. So far in 2023, the stock is up more than 24%. The downside for the company is that chip demand is expected to soften considerably in the second half of the year, and both profits and revenue are expected to be lower year over year. Lower demand for chips means reduced demand for the machinery that is used to fabricate those chips, and that’s where Applied Materials is expected to feel the pain. The company reports results after markets close on Thursday.

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