In the first half-hour of Thursday trading, the Dow Jones industrials were up 0.41%, the S&P 500 up 0.32% and the Nasdaq 0.27% higher.

Before markets opened, FuelCell Energy posted a smaller-than-expected loss per share and revenue that was nearly 50% higher than the consensus estimates. Gross profit totaled $5.2 million, well above last year’s loss of $2.9 million in the same quarter. Operating expenses fell from $41.9 million last year to $27.7 million. Shares traded up nearly 18% early Thursday.
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JD.com reported earnings per share (EPS) and revenue that beat consensus estimates. The company also announced its first dividend payment of $0.31 per share ($0.62 per American depositary share). The company said the dividend payment would total approximately $1 billion. The company also plans to adopt a variable dividend policy. Shares traded down 8.5% in early action on Thursday.

We incorrectly noted that KE Holdings would report results this morning. The company actually is expected to report quarterly earnings on March 16.

After U.S. markets close on Thursday, DocuSign, Gap and Oracle will report quarterly earnings.

Here is a look at what to expect when the following two companies post their quarterly results on Monday.

GitLab

GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLB) provides a collaborative software development platform in the United States, Europe and Asia. In the past 12 months, the stock jumped to a 52-week high (up around 80%) in mid-August before closing Wednesday with a one-year gain of about 27%. GitLab announced earlier this month that it was increasing its monthly user fee from $19 to $29, and the share price soared by more than 15% following the announcement. The company reports fourth-quarter results after Monday’s closing bell.

Of 14 brokerages covering the stock, 12 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating, while the other two have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $50.00, the upside potential based on a median price target of $60.00 is 20%. At the high price target of $75.00, the upside potential is 50%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $119.59 million, which would be up 5.9% sequentially and by 53.7% year over year. Analysts have a consensus estimate for an adjusted per-share loss of $0.14, worse than the prior quarter’s loss of $0.10 per share but better than the year-ago loss of $0.16. For the full 2023 fiscal year that ended in January, GitLab is expected to post an adjusted loss of $0.57 per share, compared to last year’s loss per share of $1.20. Revenue is forecast to rise 66.6% to $420.94 million.
GitLab is not expected to post a profit in 2023, 2024 or 2025. The company’s enterprise value to sales multiple for 2023 is 15.7. For 2024, that multiple is 11.2, on estimated sales of $587.63 million, and for 2025 the multiple is 8.3, on sales of $798.77 million. The stock’s 52-week range is $30.74 to $70.96. The company does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year is 26.66%.
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Zim Integrated Shipping

On one hand, shares of Zim Integrated Shipping Inc. (NYSE: ZIM) have fallen by nearly 70% over the past 12 months. On the other, the Israel-based container shipping firm had a dividend yield of 90.5% for the period and its forward yield is a whopping 127.8%. The stock has dropped by almost $70 a share and Zim has paid out $27.65 in dividends for the past four quarters. The company reports quarterly results first thing Monday morning.

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The stock’s total shareholder yield (dividends plus buybacks plus debt paydown) was more than 170% for the period. Shares of Zim fell more than twice the amount of the dividend, unless you were one of the lucky ones who bought in when the stock traded at its 52-week low. In that case, add $5.32 to the yield and your cash return would rise to almost $33.00. Zim’s dividend policy comprises a distribution of approximately 30% of net quarterly income in the first three quarters of the year. The annual dividend is expected to total 30% to 50% of annual net income.

Of seven brokerages covering the stock, one has a Strong Buy rating, while three rate it at Hold and the others have Sell or Strong Sell ratings. At a share price of around $22.00, the stock trades above its median price target of $19.00. At the high target of $30.40, the upside potential is 34.5%.

For the fourth quarter of the company’s fiscal 2022, the consensus revenue estimate is $2.09 billion, down 35.3% sequentially and 39.8% lower year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $3.05, down 68.4% sequentially, and down 78.4% year over year. For the 2022 fiscal year, current estimates call for EPS of $37.65, down 3.56%, on sales of $12.42 billion, up by 15.8%.

Zim stock trades at 0.6 times expected 2022 EPS and 92.9 times estimated 2023 earnings of $0.23. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.34 to $91.23. The company pays an estimated annual dividend of $27.55 (yield of 127.84%). Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 50.95%.

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