Earnings Previews: ASML, Microsoft, Texas Instruments

Over the past 12 months, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has dropped about 20.4% from its share price. Since putting up a 52-week high in late November, the stock is up about 12.5%. Despite announced layoffs of 10,000 workers, investors are cautious due to reports that Microsoft is nearing an investment of some $10 billion in OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Microsoft reported $107.2 billion in cash and short-term investments is October, so it can afford the investment in OpenAI. Perhaps investors would rather have a larger payout? Look for Microsoft’s report early Tuesday.

Sentiment for the stock is virtually all positive. Of 51 analysts covering the stock, 47 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and three more rate the shares at Hold. At a price of around $240.20 a share, the potential upside based on a median target of $285.00 is about 18.7%. At the high target of $411.00, the implied gain is 71.1%.

For its second quarter of fiscal 2023, revenue at the Dow component is forecast at $56.38 billion, up 6.1% sequentially and by 8.7% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $2.31, down 1.6% sequentially and 6.9% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in June, current consensus estimates call for EPS of $9.53, up 3.5%, on revenue of $213.04 billion, up 7.5%.

Microsoft stock trades at 25.2 times expected 2023 EPS, 21.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $11.08 and 18.3 times estimated 2025 earnings of $13.15 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $213.43 to $315.95. Microsoft pays an annual dividend of $2.72 (yield of 1.13%). Total shareholder return over the past year was negative 19.6%.

Texas Instruments

Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc.(NASDAQ: TXN) has dropped less than 1% from its share price over the past 12 months, thanks to a three-month surge that has added 12.5% to its share price. The company is expected to share its results Tuesday morning.

Last week, it was announced that Chief Operating Officer Haviv Ilan will succeed current CEO Rich Templeton on April 1. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Templeton did the same thing in 2018, only to have his successor leave after just a month on the job due to “violations of the company’s code of conduct.” Except for that short month, Templeton has been the company’s CEO for 19 years.

Analysts are cautious on the company’s prospects. Of 32 brokerages covering the stock, 19 have a Hold rating and 10 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. There are also three Sell or Strong Sell ratings mixed in. At a share price of around $173.00, the stock trades above its median price target of $172.00. At the high price target of $230.00, the upside potential is 32.9%.

For the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, analysts expect to see revenue of $4.64 billion, down about 11.5% sequentially and by 32.9% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast to total $2.03, down 20.6% sequentially and 12.9% lower year over year. For the full 2022 fiscal year, EPS are forecast to rise 12.2% to $9.52 and revenue is expected to increase by 9% to $19.99 billion.

The stock trades at around 18.2 times expected 2022 EPS, 21.9 times estimated 2023 earnings of $7.90 and 20.4 times estimated 2024 earnings of $8.46 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $144.46 to $191.34. The company pays an annual dividend of $4.96 (yield of 2.87%). Total shareholder return for the past year was 2.56%.

Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.

By Paul Ausick