Editor’s Note: This article is regularly updated to bring you relevant, up-to-date information.
It’s that time in earnings season when we’re getting down near the bottom of the barrel. With 95% of S&P 500 companies having reported results for the fourth quarter of 2021, the season for earnings reports is coming to a conclusion. We’re just about at junior mining companies and biopharmaceutical start-ups.
However, there are still a handful of companies left to issue their Q4 prints that have the potential to move stocks in their respective sectors if not the broader market. To date, more than three-quarters (76%) of S&P 500 companies have reported better-than-expected earnings for the final three months of last year, according to FactSet, demonstrating surprising resilience in the face of persistent inflation, global supply chain constraints and geopolitical tensions.
Here are seven companies reporting earnings the week of March 7.
- Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS)
- Petco (NASDAQ:WOOF)
- Oracle (NYSE:ORCL)
- CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD)
- Campbell Soup (NYSE:CPB)
- Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN)
- DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU)
Earnings Reports Next Week: Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS)
Shares of America’ biggest sporting goods retailer have been holding up better than most areas of the market this year. DKS stock is down about 5% so far, compared to a decline of nearly 10% for the benchmark S&P 500 index. However, over the past 12-months, Dick’s share price has gained over 50% to reach its current level of $109.61. The stock has been helped by strong earnings as the economy emerged from Covid-19 lockdowns.
Despite its run higher over the last year, DKS stock still looks modestly valued with a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.96, which is lower than the industry average of nearly 11 among peer retailers.
For its fourth-quarter numbers, analysts forecast that the company will report earnings per share (EPS) of $3.39, up 40% from a year ago. Revenue is projected to come in at $3.31 billion, up 6% from a year earlier. DKS stock has risen 6% in the week leading up to its earnings release, suggesting that investors are expecting the company to beat expectations.
Petco (WOOF)
Are pet owners continuing to splurge on their beloved cats, dogs and parakeets? We’ll get an idea when San Diego-based Petco reports its fourth-quarter results on Mar. 7.
The company has set a high bar for itself to jump, having increased its sales growth from 1% before the pandemic to 27% at the end of 2020. Wall Street will be watching to see if the retailer of pet food, toys and supplies has been able to maintain the momentum. Analysts have forecast Petco to report earnings per share (EPS) of $0.25 on revenue of $1.49 billion for Q4.
While the company’s sales boomed during the pandemic when people were sheltering in place at home with their beloved pets, sentiment towards WOOF stock has cooled off in recent months as the economy reopens and people begin interacting with other humans more. In the last year, Petco’s share price has pulled back 14% to $17.80. That includes an 10% decline so far this year.
In an effort to rebound, the company has been adding veterinary hospitals to its stores, with 172 now in operation. The vet business has been Petco’s fastest-growing segment, expanding an annualized 28% in the previous third quarter.
Earnings Reports Next Week: Oracle (ORCL)
Legacy software company Oracle reports its Q4 numbers on March 9 and the company’s results could ripple through the tech sector.
Wall Street is calling for Santa Clara, California-based Oracle to report EPS of $1.18 on revenue of $10.51 billion. The company’s shares have been under pressure lately as it integrates recently acquired digital medical records business Cerner (NASDAQ:CERN), which Oracle bought for $28 billion.
ORCL stock is down 12% year-to-date, but remains up 15% over the last year at its current share price of $76.82.
Beyond the Cerner acquisition, Oracle has been aggressively growing its cloud software business. As written by the Motley Fool, in the previous third quarter, Oracle reported a “6% rise in cloud services and license support revenue, to $7.6 billion, and a 13% jump in cloud license and on-premise license revenue, to $1.2 billion.” Wall Street applauded these numbers and seems to like that the company is increasingly focusing its efforts on cloud software and related applications. The company’s cloud revenue is forecast to exceed $10 billion this year.
CrowdStrike (CRWD)
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike has been mentioned a lot since Russia invaded Ukraine and the threat of cyberwarfare intensified around the world. Indeed, CRWD stock has increased more than 10% since Russia launched its attack on neighboring Ukraine.
The gains have been welcomed by shareholders who have had to watch CrowdStrike’s share price crater in recent months. CrowdStrike’s stock is now down nearly 39% from a peak of $298.48 reached last November. However, the stock has recovered some to now trade at $180.02 a share.
For the fourth quarter, analysts expect CrowdStrike to report EPS of $0.20 on revenue of $410.91 million.
Key to the company’s success will be its ability to continue growing its customer base, something it has executed well on over the past few years. Today, 63 of Fortune 100 companies and 14 of the top 20 banks in America deploy CrowdStrike cybersecurity products to protect themselves from cyber threats. And those threats are only growing with the current geopolitical instability, raising demand for CrowdStrike’s products and services.
Earnings Reports Next Week: Campbell Soup (CPB)
Now for something warm and comforting. Camden, New Jersey-based Campbell Soup reports its fourth quarter results on March 9 and better-than-expected results might help to get the company’s stock moving higher. Over the past year, CPB shares have been essentially flat (down a slight 0.33%). Year-to-date, the stock is up 5% at $45.65 a share.
While the company and its stock got a boost at the depths of the pandemic as consumers stocked up on its soup and snack products, those gains have moderated over the last six months.
Indeed, Wall Street is expecting the maker of soup, Pepperidge Farm cookies and V8 tomato juice to post quarterly earnings of $0.68 per share for the fourth quarter, which would represent a year-over-year decline of -19%. Revenues for the quarter are expected to come in at $2.21 billion, down 2.8% from a year earlier. Part of the decline is due to some tough comparables Campbell Soup is facing from 2020 when its sales were spiking as people were locked down at home during the pandemic.
Rivian Automotive (RIVN)
Not much has been going right for the stock of electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive lately. Year-to-date, RIVN stock is down 55% at $46.70 a share. The stock is now down 73% from $179.47 a share reached shortly after the company went public last November.
It’s been blunder after blunder for Rivian since. The company’s most recent misstep was announcing a $12,000 price increase on its electric pick-up trucks and SUVs that had already been ordered by consumers.
Rivian was forced to cancel the planned price increase after a swift backlash from consumers and the media. The company said it planned to raise the prices on about 70,000 preorders it received to help offset the inflationary increases it is seeing with the parts and components it needs to build its electric vehicles. However, consumers were having none of it.
Hopefully, Rivian can right its ship when it reports its Q4 results. Analysts are looking for the company to report negative EPS of -$1.72 on revenue of $60 million.
Earnings Reports Next Week: DocuSign (DOCU)
DOCU stock was one of the main beneficiaries of the pandemic lockdowns, with its share price rising over 250% to an all-time high of just under $315 a share. The company’s stock has also been one of the most impacted by the reopening trade. In the last six months, DocuSign’s share price has declined 67% to now trade at $102.67. The San Francisco-based company that specializes in the management of electronic documents and signatures has been pulled down along with other richly valued tech stocks tied to the pandemic.
Some analysts say the selloff has been overdone and point to the fact that DocuSign is now a global leader in the e-signature sector with specialized software products and improving margins.
The company’s operating margins are forecast to come in at about 18% in the fourth quarter of 2021, up from 8% at the end of 2020. For the entire fourth quarter, DocuSign is forecast to report EPS of $0.47 on revenues of $561.47 million. Wall Street will be looking for signs that DocuSign can sustain its growth long-term once the pandemic is behind us for good.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.