Earnings Previews: IonQ, News Corp

Just five analysts cover IonQ stock, and two of them have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The stock trades at around $15.30, above the median price target of $11.00. At the high target of $17.00, the upside potential is about 11.1%.

Second-quarter revenue is forecast at $4.36 million, which would be up 1.76% sequentially and 67.0% higher year over year. The company is expected to post an adjusted loss per share of $0.08, compared to a loss per share of $0.12 in the prior quarter and a year-ago loss of $0.09 per share. For the full year, the net loss per share is forecast at $0.36, up from last year’s loss of $0.25 on revenue of $19.37 million, up 74% year over year.

IonQ is not expected to post a profit in 2023, 2024 or 2025. The enterprise value to sales multiple for 2023 is estimated at 139.4 times sales. For 2024 and 2025, that multiple is 67.9 times estimated sales of $39.74 million and 30.5 times estimated 2025 sales of $88.6 million, respectively. The company does not pay a dividend, and the total shareholder return for the past year was 150.08%.

News Corp

Media and information services company News Corp. (NASDAQ: NWSA) is among the country’s largest financial publishing companies, with ownership of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, along with voting control of Fox Corp.

Last month, a nonprofit group called the Media and Democracy Project (MAD) filed a statement with the Federal Communications Commission, arguing that the FCC should deny the renewal of Fox’s license to operate its Philadelphia-based TV station, WTXF. A former Rupert Murdock lieutenant, Preston Padden, filed a supporting statement: “Fox has undermined our democracy and has radicalized a segment of our population by presenting knowingly false narratives about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.” WTXF is one of 29 TV stations around the country owned and operated by Fox.

Just six brokerages cover the stock, and four of them have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. The other 2 say the stock is a Hold. At a share price of around $20.40, the upside potential based on a median price target of $24.50 is about 20.1%. At the high target of $30.00, the upside potential is 47%.

Fiscal fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $2.48 billion, up 1.4% sequentially but down 7.1% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $0.07, down 22.2% sequentially and by 81.1% year over year. For the 2023 fiscal year that ended in June, analysts expect News Corp to report EPS of $0.42, down 64.8%, on sales of $9.96 billion, down 4.1%.

The stock trades at 48.6 times expected 2023 earnings, 26.7 times estimated 2024 earnings of $0.77 per share and 22.2 times estimated 2025 earnings of $0.93 per share. Its 52-week trading range is $14.87 to $21.69. News Corp pays an annual dividend of $0.20 (yield of 0.99%). Total shareholder return for the past year was 19.11%.

Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.

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