Earnings Previews: Antero Resources, EQT, Meta Platforms

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $1.21 billion, which would be down 42.1% sequentially but up 53.8% year over year. Analysts expect Antero to post EPS of $0.52, down 49.6% sequentially and nearly 55% lower year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, EPS are forecast at $1.71, down almost 69% year over year, on sales of  $4.79 billion, down 32.8%.

Antero stock trades at 13.4 times expected 2023 earnings, 6.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $3.44 per share and 5.7 times estimated 2025 earnings of $4.03 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $20.65 to $48.80. The company does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past year was negative 30.19%.

EQT

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) is an independent producer of natural gas, with holdings of more than 1.7 million gross acres in the Marcellus shale play of Pennsylvania. Shares have lost 17.6% over the past 12 months. When the company released 2023 guidance in February, it said it expected its average differential compared to the NYMEX price of natural gas to fall below its own Henry Hub 2023 estimate of $1.65 per million cubic feet by $0.50 to $0.75 per million cubic feet.

Analysts have cooled slightly on the stock. Of 23 brokerages covering the company, 15 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the other eight rate the shares at Hold. At a share price of around $32.70, the upside potential based on a median price target of $43.00 is 22.3%. At the high price target of $61.00, the upside potential is 86.5%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast at $1.77 billion, down 49% sequentially but up from a loss of $570.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts expect EQT to post EPS of $1.32, up 215.3% sequentially and by 69.0% year over year. For the full fiscal 2023 year, EPS are forecast at $2.40, down 22.7% year over year, on sales of  $6.06 billion, down 19.2%.

EQT stock trades at 13.6 times expected 2023 earnings, 7.1 times estimated 2024 earnings of $4.60 per share and 5.1 times estimated 2025 earnings of $6.40 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $58.11 to $51.97. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.60 (yield of 1.83%), and total shareholder return for the past year was negative 16.36%.

Meta Platforms

Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) have turned a rotten 2022 around in the first few months of this year. Shares dropped 79% between January and November of 2022, but since then, the stock has added nearly 140% to post a 12-month gain of 15.6%. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s commitment to “efficiency” this year will result in a total of some 21,000 job cuts, but what does he do for an encore? Investors will want to hear how Facebook’s ad sales are doing because that is where the money comes from, not hype about the metaverse or AI.

Of 57 analysts covering the stock, 42 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and nine have a Hold rating. At a share price of around $212.80, the upside potential based on a median price target of $236.50 is 11.1%. At the high target of $305.00, the upside potential is 45.3%.

Meta is expected to report first-quarter revenue of $27.66 billion, down 14.1% sequentially and 0.9% lower year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $1.95, up 10.6% sequentially but down 28.3% year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, consensus estimates call for EPS of $9.74, up 13.4%, on sales of $122.19 billion, up 3.8%.

The stock trades at 21.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 17.3 times estimated 2024 earnings of $12.31 and 14.5 times estimated 2025 earnings of $14.70 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $88.09 to $224.30. Meta does not pay a dividend, and total shareholder return for the past year was negative 15.58%.

Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.

By Paul Ausick