Earnings Previews: Applied Materials, Deere, Foot Locker, Ross Stores

For the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2022, analysts are expecting revenue of $6.27 billion, which would be up 0.4% sequentially and by 1.1% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $1.79, down 3.5% sequentially and 5.8% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in October, analysts are forecasting EPS of $7.49, up 9.5%, on sales of $25.34 billion, up 9.9%.

Applied Materials’ stock trades at 14.5 times expected 2022 EPS, 13.1 times estimated 2023 earnings of $8.28 and 12.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $8.56 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $82.67 to $167.06. Applied Materials pays an annual dividend of $1.04 (yield of 0.95%). Total shareholder return over the past year was negative 17%.

Deere

Heavy equipment maker Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE) has posted a share price dip of 3.4% over the past 12 months. From an all-time high in mid-April, the shares dropped by a third in early July. Since then, shares have regained 28%. The company reports results first thing Friday morning.

Earlier this week, an Australian hacker gave a presentation at DefCon showing how he took control of a Deere tractor by jailbreaking the software. Deere requires owners of its expensive farm equipment to have all repair or service work done by the company’s staff or risk voiding the warranty, a costly irritant to farmers who believe they should be able to fix things themselves. The hack illustrates that subversion is possible.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 16 of 25 having a rating of Buy or Strong Buy and nine more rating shares at Hold. At a share price of around $370.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $393.00 is about 6.2%. At the high price target of $466.00, the upside potential is about 26%.

For the company’s third quarter of fiscal 2022, analysts expect Deere to report revenue of $12.84 billion, up 6.7% sequentially and 23.3% higher year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to come in at $6.68, up 9.5% sequentially and by 25.6% year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in October, EPS are forecast at $23.20, up 22.2%, on sales of $47.2 billion, up about 18.8%.

Deere stock trades at 15.9 times expected 2022 EPS, 14.5 times estimated 2023 earnings of $25.53 and 13.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $26.83 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $283.81 to $446.76. The company pays an annual dividend of $4.52 (yield of 1.22%). Total shareholder return over the past year was negative 2.2%.

Foot Locker

Shares of Foot Locker Inc. (NYSE: FL) have trailed downward for the past 12 months, losing about 42% over the past 12 months. The stock has trailed lower since mid-November and fallen by 72% in mid-July to post a 52-week low. Specialty retailers like Foot Locker are performing worse than the S&P 500 by more than seven percentage points, down 16.1% for the year to date, versus down 9.7% for the index.

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