7 Key Earnings Reports to Watch in the Week Ahead

March 22, 2015 by Chris Lange

weathervane24/7 Wall St. has put together a preview of some of the larger companies reporting their quarterly results in the middle of March. We have reviewed the consensus earnings estimates from Thomson Reuters and the stock price and trading history, as well as added some additional color on each.

Paychex

Paychex Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings on Wednesday before the opening bell. The consensus estimates call for earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46 and $701.16 million in revenue.

The company has made a strong push on the charts since last fall. Its payroll service revenue continues to advance, and the company is continuing to see strong demand for its human resource outsourcing services.

Shares traded at $51.62 as the week came to a close. The consensus price target is $45.00, and the stock has a 52-week trading range of $39.80 to $51.70, with that high reached on Friday.

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Red Hat

Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) is set to post its fiscal fourth-quarter results Wednesday after the markets close. Consensus estimates call for EPS of $0.41 and $457.30 million in revenue.

The tech firm suffered from the currency problem that presently is affecting the market, way back in December before it was an even bigger issue. The company reported revenues of $456 million for its third quarter. However Red Hat noted that revenues would have been up 18% if measured on a constant currency basis, as opposed to only 14.8%. Also, this marked 51 quarters of sequential revenue growth.

At the close of Friday’s trading session, shares were changing hands at $69.50. The consensus price target is $73.50. The 52-week trading range is $47.45 to $71.77.

Yingli

Yingli Green Energy Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: YGE) is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter and full-year results on Wednesday before the open. The consensus estimates call for a net loss of $0.13 per American depository share (ADS) and $591.83 million in revenue.

The Chinese solar company had mixed results in its third-quarter earnings report, and since that time it has had a rough run in the market. Perhaps the fourth quarter could be when Yingli turns it around, but this seems unlikely given that the company cut its module shipments guidance in the third quarter.

ADSs were trading at $2.39 on Friday’s close, below the consensus analyst price target of $3.37. The 52-week trading range is $1.86 to $4.88.

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Accenture

Accenture PLC (NYSE: ACN) will release its most recent quarterly results Thursday morning. The consensus estimates are $1.07 EPS on $7.39 billion in revenue.

This IT company has made huge strides in terms of its stock price since the market sell-off in October, gaining roughly 25% to current prices. RBC Capital views the company as a core portfolio holding that has demonstrated very friendly shareholder capital redeployment over the years. The firm also feels that Accenture is tapping into the underlying mega-trends of technology, such as data analytics.

In Friday’s trading session, shares closed at $91.48. The consensus price target is $92.63, and the 52-week trading range is $73.98 to $92.18.

GameStop

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) is set to report its earnings after the markets close on Thursday. The consensus estimates are for EPS of $2.16 and revenue of $3.62 billion.

The game retailer needs to make a comeback from its third-quarter earnings, which not only fell short of estimates but the company also guided lower for this quarter. At the time this was an ideal point to buy the dip in the market as shares made a handy recovery over the holiday season. This could be something to look for in the fourth quarter earnings.

Shares ended the week at $40.92. The stock has a consensus price target of $46.93. Shares have traded between $31.69 and $46.59 in the past year.

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Lululemon

Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is set to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings Thursday morning. Analysts are looking for EPS of $0.73 on $598.82 million in revenue.

The yoga-wear retailer recently updated its fourth-quarter guidance in January. EPS is expected to fall within the range of $0.71 to $0.73, compared to the previous guidance of $0.65 to $0.69. This was backed by improving trends and strong holiday results. The company sees customers responding positively to both the women’s and men’s product assortment. It is also nearing completion for the build-out of its senior leadership team. Thursday’s report will be a big one.

Shares were changing hands at $65.74 at Friday’s closing bell. The stock has a consensus price target of $63.34 and a 52-week trading range of $36.26 to $68.99.

BlackBerry

BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBRY) is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings Friday morning. The consensus estimates call for a net loss of $0.04 per share and revenue of $802.29 million.

BlackBerry has long been the whipping boy of both iPhone and Android phones. The company has seen its market share fall to these giants, and it seems like a buyout might be the only hope. BlackBerry expects to double its software sales in its 2015 fiscal year, but analysts believe that this is highly unlikely, considering that if the company makes this goal, it would move ahead of the market leaders in the span of just a year. The time frame alone for this just seems incredibly unlikely.

The share price was at $9.51 on Friday’s close. The consensus analyst price target is $9.36, and the 52-week trading range is $7.01 to $12.63.

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