Investing

Earnings Previews: JinkoSolar, Manchester United, Weber

Paul Ausick

Published: September 14, 2021 10:40 am

Last Updated: September 14, 2021 10:48 am

Enterprise software giant Oracle reported mixed fiscal first-quarter results after markets closed Monday. The company beat the consensus earnings estimate but missed on revenue. The stock traded down more than 3.5% in Tuesday’s premarket. Oracle continues to battle for customers in the cloud computing space with Amazon and Microsoft.

This will be our only preview story for this week. We have picked out three from a short list of firms reporting this week.

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JinkoSolar

China-based solar technology company JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (NYSE: JKS) reports second-quarter fiscal 2021 results before markets open Wednesday. Following a spike last October that tripled the share price, JinkoSolar has given back more than half that to post a gain of around 128% for the past 12 months. For the year to date, the stock price is down about 22%. As bad as that sounds, the stock has cut its share price decline in half since mid-August. Going forward, the company is expected to benefit from tighter restrictions on imports because it also has a production facility in Florida that will not be subject to the restrictions.

Only seven analysts cover the stock, and four of those have rated the shares at Hold. Another two rate the stock a Strong Buy, and one has a Strong Sell rating. At a recent price of around $47.90, the stock has passed its median price target of $41. At the high price target of $61, the implied gain on the stock is about 23%.

Analysts have forecast second-quarter revenue of $1.2 billion, which would be down about 1.1% sequentially and flat year over year. JinkoSolar is expected to post an adjusted loss per share of $0.16, down from earnings per share (EPS) of $0.15 in the first quarter and $1.20 in the second quarter of 2020. For the full year, EPS is forecast at $2.50, a decline of nearly 24% on revenue of $6.25 billion, up 16% year over year.

The stock trades at 19.3 times expected 2021 EPS, 12.4 times estimated 2022 earnings and 10.3 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $22.46 to $90.20. JinkoSolar does not pay a dividend.

Weber

Barbecue grill maker Weber Inc. (NYSE: WEBR) held its initial public offering in early August, selling about half as many shares as it had hoped at a price lower than its expected offering range. After a first-day jump of nearly 20%, the stock currently trades down about 10% from its first day’s closing price and less than a dollar more than its IPO price. The company is reporting results for its third quarter (ended in June) of fiscal 2021 before markets open on Wednesday.

Weber has not attracted a great deal of analyst interest, with just eight brokerages covering the company. Most (five) rate the stock a Hold, while the other three give shares a Buy or Strong Buy rating. At a price of around $14.80, the implied upside based on a median price target of $19 is about 28.4%. At the high target of $22, the upside potential is 48.6%.

Analysts expect the company to report revenue of $669.14 million and adjusted EPS of $0.36. No comparisons with prior quarters are available. For the last two quarters of Weber’s fiscal 2021, analysts are forecasting EPS of $0.52 on sales of $1.96 billion.

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Weber stock trades at 28.8 times expected 2021 EPS, 24 times estimated 2022 earnings and 21.2 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s post-IPO range is $14.13 to $20.44. Weber does not pay a dividend.

Manchester United

English Premier League football (soccer) club Manchester United PLC (NYSE: MANU) will report fiscal fourth-quarter results first thing Friday. Over the past year, the club’s share price is up nearly 11%, including a gain of more than 7% so far in 2021.

On August 31, the club announced that it had signed one of the game’s best players, Christiano Ronaldo, who began his playing career in 2003 with Manchester before departing for Real Madrid in 2009. His return to Manchester after 11 seasons energized the team’s fans, and the lifting of restrictions on spectators are expected to give the team’s chances and finances a boost.

Only three analysts cover the stock, and two rate the shares at Hold while the other has a Buy rating. At around $17.80 a share, the stock trades very near to its median price target of $17.96. At the high target of $22.03, the implied gain is nearly 24%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $144.54 million, down more than 11% sequentially but up 77% over last year’s pandemic-plagued year. The club is expected to post an adjusted loss of $0.21 per share, a penny better than last year’s loss but worse than the third-quarter loss of $0.13 per share. For the full year, Manchester United is expected to post a loss per share of $0.22 on revenue of $689.05 million, up 9.2% year over year. The loss per share in 2020 was $0.10.

The stock trades at 65.9 times estimated 2022 earnings and 43.1 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $13.28 to $2022, and Manchester United pays an annual dividend of $0.18 per share (yield of 1.04%).

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