Earnings Previews: Hecla Mining, Li Auto, Roblox

In late-morning trading on Monday, the Dow Jones industrials were down 0.29%, the S&P 500 down 0.12% and the 0.22% lower.

Before U.S. markets opened on Monday, BioNTech beat consensus estimates for both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue. The Germany-based firm also confirmed its earlier estimate of around $5 billion in revenue from its COVID-19 vaccine. Shares traded up 1.4%.

Tyson Foods missed estimates on both the top and bottom lines. In its outlook for fiscal 2023, beef production is expected to decline by 4%, pork production is forecast roughly flat and chicken production is expected to rise by 3%. The company has forecast adjusted operating margins in the three segments ranging from down 2% to up 1% year over year. Shares traded down about 16%.

Devon Energy, Lucid and Palantir are on deck to report results after U.S. markets close on Monday, with Duke Energy, Fox, Fisker and Nikola set to report results the following morning. Later on Tuesday, look for results from Affirm, Airbnb, Luminar, Occidental Petroleum and Rivian.

The following four companies are scheduled to report quarterly earnings first thing Wednesday morning.

Hecla Mining

Idaho-based Hecla Mining Co. (NYSE: HL) is the largest U.S. producer of silver. Over the past 12 months, the stock price has risen by about 21%. Silver prices have bounced around in the past year, and took a serious bounce higher beginning in early March, adding about 25% in the past two months. Silver production in the first quarter was 10% higher sequentially. The company has targeted 17 million ounces of production this year, rising to 20 million ounces by 2025.

Hedge funds and ETF issuers boosted their holdings in Hecla stock by as much as 23% (State Street) in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs added 325% to its holdings in Hecla during the quarter, to around 1% of Hecla stock outstanding. About 66% of Hecla’s float is owned by institutional investors.

Of eight brokerages covering the stock, two have Hold ratings and six have Buy or Strong Buy ratings. At the recent trading price of around $6.20, the upside potential to the median price target of $7.50 is 21%. At the high price target of $8.25, the upside potential is 33%.

First-quarter revenue is forecast to be flat sequentially and rise by 4.5% year over year to $194.84 million. Hecla is expected to post EPS of $0.02, flat both sequentially and year over year. For the full 2023 fiscal year, EPS are forecast to increase by 183% to $0.14, and revenue is expected to increase by 20.2% to $864.1 million.

Hecla stock trades at 43.4 times expected 2023 EPS, 48.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $0.13 and 41.9 times estimated 2025 earnings of $0.15 per share. Its 52-week trading range is $3.41 to $7.00, and the company pays an annual dividend of $0.02 per share (yield of 0.37%). Total shareholder return in the past year is 24.58%.

Li Auto

Beijing-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) has seen its share price increase by about 13.6% over the past 12 months. Shares have gained more than 20% since the beginning of 2023. Last month, Li delivered more than 25,000 units, the first of China’s premium-priced EV makers to reach that milestone. Tesla still outsells Li by about 3 to 1 in China, but the Chinese automaker is well ahead of Xpeng and Nio, its main rivals in the premium market of EVs priced above $43,400.