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Earnings Previews: Home Depot, JD.com, Walmart

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Premarket trading Friday had all three major U.S. indexes trading in the green. Six of the 11 S&P sectors closed higher on Thursday, led by communications services (up 1.1%). The tech sector, which closed down 1%, was the day’s biggest loser.

After markets closed Thursday, Affirm posted a smaller-than-expected per-share loss and also beat the consensus revenue estimate. User numbers rose sharply, as did transactions. Shares traded about 23% higher in mid-morning action Friday.

Toast reported a larger-than-expected per-share loss but a near-90% year-over-year increase in revenue that beat estimates by more than 10% and raised guidance for the second quarter and the full fiscal year more than made up for the loss. The stock traded up about 12% Friday morning.

Algonquin Power reported earnings in line with expectations and a 16% year-over-year increase in revenue that beat consensus estimates by around 3.4%. Shares traded 3.2% higher Friday morning.

Joby Aviation posted a loss per share of $0.11, less than the expected loss of $0.24. The electric aircraft developer also reported cash, equivalents and short-term investments totaling $1.2 billion. The stock traded up nearly 20% Friday morning.

Here is a look at two major U.S. retailers and one Chinese e-commerce giant due to report results first thing Tuesday morning.

Home Depot

Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD) has dropped about 10.5% from its share price over the past 12 months. Since posting a recent high in early December, the stock has dropped by nearly 30%. Between March 20, 2020, and December 6, 2021, Home Depot’s stock added almost 185%, truly phenomenal for a Dow Jones industrial.

Even with the decline over the past several months, the shares are trading for essentially double their March 2020 price. Expectations will be lower (the average price target has dropped by about 11%), and investors will be looking for a solid beat on both profits and revenue.

Of 33 analysts covering the stock, 24 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating and eight rate the shares at Hold. At a recent price of around $290.90 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $377.00 is nearly 30%. At the high price target of $470.00, the upside potential is 61.6%.


Analysts expect Home Depot to report revenue of $36.65 billion for its first quarter of fiscal 2023, which ended in April. That would be up 2.6% sequentially but down about 2.3% year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are forecast at $3.68, up 14.8% sequentially and 4.7% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year, EPS are forecast at $16.12, up 3.8%, on sales of $153.9 billion, up 1.8% year over year.

Home Depot stock trades at 18.1 times expected 2023 EPS, 16.8 times estimated 2024 earnings of $17.31 and 15.7 times estimated 2025 earnings of $18.55 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $280.63 to $420.61, and the low was posted Thursday. Home Depot pays an annual dividend of $7.60 (yield of 2.62%). Total shareholder return for the past year is negative 8.5%.

JD.com

Beijing-based JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ: JD) is the second-largest Chinese e-commerce company, and it has lost more than 29% of its share price over the past 12 months. JD.com is among the more than 80 Chinese companies threatened with delisting on U.S. exchanges for failing to meet federal accounting requirements. Virtually all the company’s share price decrease has come since the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its list. The company has until May 25 to dispute its inclusion on the SEC list.

Of 38 analysts covering the stock, 36 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating. At a share price of around $50.90, the stock’s implied upside based on a median price target of $80.55 is about 58.3%. At the high price target of $118.00, the upside potential is nearly 132%.

Analysts expect JD.com to report first-quarter revenue of $34.69 billion, down 20% sequentially but 11.9% higher year over year. Adjusted EPS are expected to come in at $0.25, up 40% sequentially and down 34.2% year over year. For the full 2022 fiscal year, EPS are forecast at $1.82, up about 113%, on sales of $166.06 billion, up 10.9% year over year.

The stock trades at 28.2 times expected 2022 EPS, 18.7 times estimated 2023 earnings of $2.74 and 13.9 times estimated 2024 earnings of $3.69 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $41.56 to $92.69, and the company does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return over the past year is negative 23.5%.

Walmart

The second Dow component reporting early Tuesday morning is Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Over the past 12 months, the company has seen its share price increase by nearly 10%. There have been a few questions about the retail giant’s valuation, even though it has beaten analysts’ consensus revenue estimates for eight consecutive quarters and EPS estimates for seven of those eight.

Analysts are mostly bullish on the stock, with 28 of 38 awarding the shares a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the rest with Hold ratings. At a share price of around $147.00, the upside potential at the median price target of $167.00 is about 13.6%. At the high target of $190, the implied upside is 29.3%.


For its first quarter of fiscal 2023, Walmart is expected to report sales of $138.03 billion, down 8.9% sequentially and down about 0.6% year over year. Adjusted EPS are pegged at $1.48, down 3.4% sequentially and 10.0% year over year. For the full fiscal year that began in February, analysts forecast EPS of $6.75, up 4.5%, on sales of $588.25 billion, up 3.6%.

Walmart stock trades at 21.8 times expected 2023 EPS, 20.2 times estimated 2024 earnings of $7.28 and 18.3 times estimated 2025 earnings of $8.03 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $132.01 to $160.77. Walmart pays an annual dividend of $2.20 (yield of 1.52%). Total shareholder return for the past year was just over 8%.

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