COVID-19 has been absolutely brutal for countless people and businesses in the United States and around the world. U.S. gross domestic product saw its biggest pullback ever amid a coronavirus-induced government shutdown. With the economy locked down, the first read was that U.S. GDP declined by 32.9%. In fact, neither the Great Depression nor the Great Recession, or any other economic contraction, has been as great as what we have seen in the past few months.
It goes without saying that companies reporting earnings for this period saw sharp declines reflecting the broad economy, but there were actually some big winners.
As the economy has shifted as a result of the pandemic, different companies have seen outsized gains. However, there have been losers in the process as well. Many are dubbing this period the “Retail Apocalypse,” as many retailers were absolutely crushed during this time, while e-commerce was on the rise.
Some of the obvious winners from this pandemic are Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Apple’s App Store has capitalized on many bored consumers stuck at home buying new apps on their iPhones, while Amazon is shipping everything to everyone from its online marketplace.
24/7 Wall St. has included some of the other really big winners from the most recent earnings season. These companies have survived the pandemic and then some, and they have the fundamentals to prove it. We have included some highlights from the reports.
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD) seems to be winning at the expense of Intel, at least that’s how the report came off at the end of July. The chipmaker posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.18 on revenues of $1.93 billion. Second-quarter results compare to the consensus estimate for EPS of $0.16 on $1.86 billion in revenues.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, AMD expects revenue of around $2.55 billion, plus or minus $100 million, an increase of approximately 32% sequentially and about 42% year over year. The increases are expected to be driven primarily by Ryzen and EPYC sales and next-generation semi-custom sales.
AMD stock last closed at $81.66, in a 52-week range of $27.43 to $87.29. The consensus price target is $75.33. Over the past quarter, this stock is up about 47%, or closer to 42% in the past month alone.
UPS
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) reported its most recent quarterly results at the tail end of July as well. The package delivery service reported EPS of $2.13 on revenues of $20.5 billion. Analysts were calling for EPS of $1.07 and $17.5 billion in revenue.
Carol Tomé, the chief executive officer, attributed the blockbuster results to a surge in demand for residential service, health care shipments related to the COVID-19 pandemic and stronger demand for shipments from Asia.
UPS stock most recently closed at $159.99, in a 52-week range of $82.00 to $162.70. Analysts have a consensus price target of $145.04. Over the past quarter, this stock is up about 66%, including 35% in the past month alone.
Whirlpool
In late July, Whirlpool Corp. (NYSE: WHR) reported its second-quarter results. Essentially, the appliance maker saw strength in its results because more people were looking to improve their homes during the pandemic. The firm reported $2.15 in EPS on revenues of $4.04 billion, while consensus estimates had called for $0.96 in EPS and $3.62 billion in revenue.
The company said that its North America sales, its largest segment, were less hurt than other regions from the COVID-19 pandemic, and there were early signs of demand recovery in June.
Whirlpool stock closed at $182.00 and has a 52-week range of $64.00 to $183.89. The consensus price target is $159.00. Over the past quarter, this stock is up about 54%. In the past month alone, it is up closer to 27%.
HCA
In the age of COVID-19, there should be some money to be made in operating hospitals. HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: HCA) said that it had $3.16 in EPS and $11.07 billion in revenue, which came in above consensus estimates of a net loss of $0.20 per share on revenue of $10.09 billion.
One thing to point out here is that the company recognized $822 million, or $1.73 per share, in government stimulus income during the quarter under the CARES Act. Patient volumes were significantly affected in April due to state and local policies related to the pandemic. Same-facility inpatient surgeries decreased 15.7%, while same-facility outpatient surgeries fell by 32.6%.
HCA stock closed at $133.91, in a 52-week range of $58.38 to $151.97. The consensus analyst target is $146.95. Over the past quarter, this stock is up about 29%, or closer to 28% in the past month.
PulteGroup
PulteGroup Inc. (NYSE: PHM) is proof that the homebuilders are making a comeback. If anything, the flight out of cities and into suburbs could prove lucrative for this firm. Second-quarter results seemed to prove this.
The firm posted EPS of $1.15 and $2.59 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates that were calling for $0.87 per share on $2.49 billion. PulteGroup reported 6,522 net new orders. While this is down about 4% from the same period last year, it is much better than expected. Analysts were calling for new orders to drop to 4,999.
PulteGroup stock closed Tuesday at $46.61. The 52-week trading range is $17.12 to $47.43, and the consensus price target is $45.77. Over the past quarter, this stock is up about 48%, or closer to 24% in the past month alone.
24/7 Wall St.Qualcomm
At the very end of June, Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) reported its third-quarter fiscal 2020 results. The chipmaker said that it had $0.86 and revenues of $4.9 billion. The consensus analysts’ estimates had called for EPS of $0.71 and $4.8 billion in revenue.
The big news is a new technology licensing agreement with Chinese network equipment maker Huawei. Qualcomm said the deal was a long-term global patent license and includes cross-licensing of some Huawei patents. In fiscal 2019, Qualcomm revenues included $450 million in royalties ($0.32 per share) paid by Huawei under an interim agreement that expired at the end of last year’s third quarter. Qualcomm has not recorded any Huawei licensing revenue since that time.
The new licensing agreement will add $1.8 billion to Qualcomm’s first- and second-quarter revenues and an as-yet-unspecified amount for the third quarter.
Qualcomm stock closed at $112.03, in a 52-week range of $58.00 to $116.25. The consensus price target is $119.26. This stock is up about 43% over the past quarter, or closer to 20% in the past month alone.
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