Investing
Earnings Previews: Ballard Power, Coty, Lordstown Motors, Palantir
May 5, 2022 10:14 am
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a half-point interest rate hike Wednesday afternoon to a new rate in a range of 0.75% to 1.00%. He also said the Fed is not currently considering a rate increase of 0.75%. It is that last bit that probably lit a fire under investors, who pushed the Dow Jones industrials up 2.81%, the Nasdaq up 3.19% and the S&P 500 up 2.99%. There has been some pullback Thursday morning, with all three indexes down between about 0.4% and 0.6% early on.
After markets closed Wednesday afternoon, lithium miner Albemarle beat the consensus revenue estimate by about 10% and hammered the consensus earnings estimate by 46%. The stock had added about 9.3% in Wednesday’s regular trading session, following a bullish report and outlook from rival Livent. In premarket trading Thursday, Albemarle was up more than 14%.
Independent oil and gas producer APA missed its consensus earnings estimate but did beat the revenue forecast by about 10%. The company also said it was raising its planned capital spending budget by about 8% for the fiscal year. Shares traded down about 2.7%.
ConocoPhillips beat consensus top-line and bottom-line estimates. Full-year oil and gas production is expected to be lower by about 25 million barrels of oil equivalent compared to 2021 production levels. Conoco said it is increasing its operating capital guidance by about 8.3% to $7.8 billion and boosting its shareholder returns program by $2 billion for 2022. Shares traded up about 0.1% Thursday morning.
Uranium miner Cameco reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.04, while analysts were expecting a per-share loss of $0.04. Revenue fell short of the consensus estimate by about 10%. Shares traded up about 1.5% in the premarket.
Among companies reporting results after markets close Thursday or on Friday morning, we have previewed Block, DraftKings, Lucid and Tyson Foods.
Here is a look at four companies set to report results late Friday or early Monday.
Over the past 12 months, shares of hydrogen fuel-cell maker Ballard Power Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: BLDP) have declined by almost 55%. Since posting a 20-year high in February of last year, the shares have declined by about 78%. The Canada-based company is scheduled to report results after markets close Friday afternoon.
Ballard and a handful of other alternative energy companies got a short-lived boost following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but all now trade lower for the year to date, likely because none offers an immediate response to higher gasoline prices nor is a solution at scale on any visible horizon.
Analysts remain cautious on the stock. Thirteen of 23 brokerages have a Hold rating, while nine have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. At a recent price of around $9.20 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $13.50 is 46.7%. At the high price target of $35.00, the upside potential is 280%.
Sponsored: Find a Qualified Financial Advisor
Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to 3 fiduciary financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. Each advisor has been vetted by SmartAsset and is held to a fiduciary standard to act in your best interests. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors that can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.