Investing

Earnings Previews: Academy Sports, Chico's FAS, Marvell Technology, Stitch Fix

Paul Ausick

Published: June 4, 2021 12:18 pm

The holiday-shortened week closes with no earnings reports out on Friday and none of note on Monday morning. Next week is relatively slow as well, although there are some interesting reports due, Campbell Soup, Navistar and GameStop among them.

After markets closed Thursday, six companies reported quarterly results: Broadcom, ChargePoint, CrowdStrike, DocuSign, Lululemon and Slack. Here’s our brief look at those results.

This preview looks at two firms reporting earnings after markets close Monday and two more reporting results before markets open Tuesday morning.

Marvell Technology

Chipmaker Marvell Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) is expected to report fiscal first-quarter results after Monday’s close. The company added more than 80% to its share price in 2020, but the stock has managed to put up an increase of less than 2% so far in 2021. The company’s 5G networking products and storage device products are expected to continue growing strongly.

Analysts are cautious, however, with half (12 of 24) rating the shares a Hold. At a recent price of around $48.25, the upside potential based on a consensus price target of $56.00 is 16%. At the high target of $64.00, upside potential is nearly 33%.

The consensus estimate for earnings per share is $0.27, a third higher than the company posted in the first quarter a year ago. Revenue is forecast to rise more than 18% to $804.12 million.

Marvell’s stock trades at a multiple of 36.2 times expected 2022 EPS and 26.5 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $32.53 to $55.70, and the average daily trading volume is about 10.5 million shares. The company pays an annual dividend of $0.24 (yield of 0.51%).

Stitch Fix

Subscription-based e-commerce retailer Stitch Fix Inc. (NASDAQ: SFIX) will report third-quarter fiscal 2021 results late on Monday. The shares added nearly 130% last year, most of it in the final three months. So far in 2021, the shares have dropped about 5%. Founder and CEO Katrina Lake announced in April that she would step down in August, and that has helped keep the stock in the red for the year to date.

Given Stitch Fix’s troubles and uncertainties, analysts remain cautious, with most rating the stock a Hold (eight of 17) while three have the shares rated Underperform. At a price of around $55.50, the stock has outrun the consensus price target of $54.00. At the high target of $84.00, upside potential is 51%.

Consensus estimates call for a per-share loss of $0.27 on sales of $510.54 million. The estimated per-share loss is 18% smaller than the year-ago loss, and the revenue estimate is more than 25% higher.

Stitch Fix is not expected to post a profit in 2021, 2022 or 2023. The stock’s 52-week range is $21.60 to $113.76, and the average daily trading volume is around 2.3 million shares.

Academy Sports

Sporting gear retailer Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO) reports first-quarter fiscal 2022 results before markets open on Tuesday. Since its initial public offering last October, the stock has added just over 180%, about half of which has come in 2021. Fourth-quarter 2021 net income soared by 97% year over year. The company’s IPO is the third best in the past 12 months, with a total return of 181%.

Of nine brokerages covering the firm, all rate the stock a Buy (six) or Strong Buy. At around $36.40 per share and with a consensus price target of $38.00, upside potential is about 4.2%. At the high price target of $44.00, upside potential is about 21%.

Analysts expect Academy Sports to report quarterly EPS of $0.83 on sales of $1.51 billion. There is no comparable data for last year.

The stock trades at a multiple of nearly 11.0 times expected 2022 EPS and 10.1 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s post-IPO range is $12.05 to $37.90, and the high was posted on Wednesday. The average daily trading volume is about 2.5 million shares.

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Chico’s

Women’s retail operator Chico’s FAS Inc. (NYSE: CHS) also will report first-quarter 2022 first thing Tuesday. Shares dropped by nearly 57% last year but have jumped by more than 230% so far in 2021. Since January of 2020, the stock is up about 45%, and it didn’t reach the breakeven point between March 2, 2020, and May 11 of this year. Over the past 12 months, however, shares are up 240%.

Most analysts (eight of 12) rate the stock a Hold despite its strong gains of the past 12 months. The stock has streaked past its consensus price target of $3.75 and its high price target of $5.00 to trade at around $5.35. There’s generally no upside to buying any stock in this situation.

Analysts expect Chico’s to post a per-share loss of $0.17 for the quarter on sales of $320.65 million. The company lost $1.55 per share in the first quarter of last year, so the expectations are a huge improvement. Revenue is barely better than flat, however, so margins are going to have to do the heavy lifting.

Chico’s is not expected to post a profit this year. Its shares trade at a multiple of 23.2 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $0.91 to $5.72. The average daily trading volume is about 1.9 million shares.