Investing

Earnings Previews: Block, Coinbase, Dell

Paul Ausick

Published: February 23, 2022 11:29 am

More than 100 companies reported quarterly results on Tuesday, and there are nearly 600 more reports due out this week. A couple of noteworthy reports were Caesars and TJX. The former missed earnings but beat on revenues, while the latter missed on revenue and offered indifferent guidance.

We already have previewed three firms set to report results after markets close Wednesday: Clover Health, eBay and Skillz. Another five firms are set to report results before markets open Thursday morning: Alibaba, Discovery, Newmont, Nikola and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

Here are previews of three tech companies set to report results after markets close Thursday.

Block

The company formerly known as Square is now Block Inc. (NYSE: SQ). In late October, the stock was trading at around $265 per share. On Tuesday, the stock closed at around $94, a drop of 64.5%, essentially identical to its decline over the past 12 months.

The $29 billion acquisition of Australia-based buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firm Afterpay closed last month and gives one of the leading payment processors a popular new line of business to go along with its own Cash App mobile wallet. Block splashed out a lot of cash in 2021 and shareholders are going to want to see something in their own pockets now. Or at least an upbeat short-term forecast when the company reports results on Thursday.

Analysts remain bullish on the shares, with 33 of 45 brokerages putting a rating of Buy or Strong Buy on the stock. Another 10 rate the stock at Hold. At a recent price of around $93.40 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $220 is 135%. At the high price of $350, the upside potential is nearly 275%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast at $4.06 billion, which would be up 5.6% sequentially and 28% higher year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are expected to come in at $0.22, down 39.3% sequentially and 31.3% year over year. For the full 2021 fiscal year, estimates call for EPS of $1.67, up 98%, on sales of $17.65 billion, up 85.8%.

Square stock trades at 55.7 times expected 2021 earnings, 72.9 times estimated 2022 earnings of $1.27 and 46.0 times estimated 2023 earnings of $2.02 per share. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $92.90 to $289.23. Square does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year was negative 63.8%.

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Coinbase

Since its initial public offering in mid-April of last year, shares of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) have spent most of their time trading in the red. The stock now trades at about 45% below its IPO price. Even though ARK Invest continues to be the company’s largest institutional shareholder, it has pared its holdings slightly from 6.2 million shares to about 6.03 million. Coinbase is about to launch an NFT trading platform and that is expected to increase its transaction numbers. More transactions are important because they are the source of Coinbase’s revenue.

Of 22 analysts covering Coinbase stock, 17 have a Buy or Strong Buy rating, and another four rate the stock at Hold. At a share price of around $177.10, the upside potential based on a median price target of $346 is 95.3%. At the high target of $500, the upside potential at the current price is about 182%.

For the fourth quarter, the current consensus calls for revenue of $1.91 billion, up by about 45.8% sequentially. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $1.85, or about 1% higher sequentially. Data for last year is unavailable. For the full year, analysts expect EPS of $12.93 on sales of $7.3 billion.

The stock trades at 12.1 times expected 2021 EPS, 23.8 times estimated 2022 earnings of $7.35 and 23.5 times estimated 2023 earnings of $7.43 per share. The stock trades in a post-IPO range of $162.20 to $429.54. Coinbase does not pay a dividend.

Dell

Over the past 12 months, shares of Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) have added more than 40% to their share price. According to Gartner, global fourth-quarter shipments totaled 88.4 million units (down 5%) for all PC makers. Dell’s share rose from 17.1% a year ago to 19.5% and shipments increased from 15.9 million units to 17.2 million, the first time in Dell’s history that it passed 17 million units shipped in a single quarter. The fourth quarter marked Dell’s fifth consecutive quarter of unit sales growth.

Sentiment among analysts is bullish, with 13 of 19 brokerages giving the stock a Buy or Strong Buy rating and another five rating it a Hold. At a share price of around $57.60, the upside potential based on a median price target of $65 is 12.8%. At the high price target of $79, the upside potential is about 37.2%.

The consensus revenue estimate for Dell’s fourth quarter of fiscal 2022 is $27.48 billion, up 4.6% sequentially and 5.0% year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast at $1.95, down 17.6% sequentially and 27.8% lower year over year. For the full fiscal year ending in January, analysts expect EPS of $6.52, down 18.5%, on sales of $100.86 billion, up 6.9%.

The stock trades at 8.8 times expected 2022 EPS, 8.3 times estimated 2023 earnings of $6.91 and 7.9 times estimated 2024 earnings of $7.28 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $53.01 to $115.00. Dell does not pay a dividend. Total shareholder return for the past year was 41.2%.

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