Earnings Previews: Lululemon, Micron, Paychex

Of 37 analysts covering Micron stock, 27 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and another eight rate it at Hold. At a share price of around $61.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $66.00 is 8.2%. At the high target of $100.00, upside potential is 39%.

Second-quarter fiscal 2023 revenue is forecast at $3.71 billion, down 9.3% sequentially and 110.0% lower year over year. Analysts expect an adjusted loss per share of $0.88, worse than the $0.04 loss in the prior quarter and well below EPS of $2.14 in the first quarter of fiscal 2022. For the full fiscal year ending in August, revenue is forecast at $15.91 billion, down 48.3%, and the full-year loss is forecast at $2.55, compared to last year’s EPS of $8.35.

Micron stock trades at 52.1 times estimated 2024 EPS of $1.17 and 14.2 times estimated 2025 earnings of $4.31 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $48.43 to $86.24, and Micron pays an annual dividend of $0.46 (yield of 0.75%). Total return over the past 12 months was negative 21.2%.

Paychex

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is the country’s second-largest integrated human resources outsourcer of staffing and employment services such as payroll and insurance. The stock has lost nearly 15% from its share price over the past 12 months, including a decline of 5.8% so far in 2023. Paychex has only missed EPS estimates once since the August 2018 quarter and missed sales estimates only twice during the same period. Paychex reports quarterly results on Wednesday morning.

Earlier this month, the company released its small business job index indicating that employment growth had improved in each of the first two months of 2023. The index reading of 99.66 is near a record high set in February of 2022 of 101.33.

Of 19 analysts covering the stock, 13 have a Hold rating and three rate it at Buy or Strong Buy. At a share price of around $109.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $119.50 is 9.6%. The high price target of $140.00 implies upside of about 28.1% to the current price.

Analysts anticipate that revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2023 will come in at $1.35 billion, up 13.3% sequentially and by 6.3% year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to be $0.96, down 6.7% sequentially but up 5.5% year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in May, analysts forecast EPS of $4.25, up 12.8%, and revenue of $4.99 billion, up 8.2%.

Paychex stock trades at 25.6 times expected 2023 EPS, 24.0 times estimated 2024 earnings of $4.54 and 22.5 times estimated 2025 earnings of $4.85 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $105.66 to $141.92. Paychex pays an annual dividend of $3.16 (yield of 2.93%). Total shareholder return for the past 12 months was negative 12.53%.

Originally published at 24/7 Wall St.

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