Home Depot Likely to Post ‘Largely in Line’ Q1 Results, Reiterate Outlook, Wedbush Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Home Depot’s (HD) Q1 results on May 14 will likely be “largely in line” with market expectations and the retailer will likely also reaffirm its “conservative” 2024 guidance, Wedbush said in a note to clients on Friday. “While we initially viewed the company’s 2024 guidance as conservative, we now see it as realistic given choppy sales trends partly driven by a delayed spring, increasing mortgage rates and a further-delayed housing recovery,” said Wedbush analysts including Seth Basham. However, the investment firm sees the retailer delivering a quarter-on-quarter improvement in comps to about -2%, which is in line with Wall Street estimates, and would be better than the -3.5% in Q4. Wedbush also sees Home Depot’s Q1 gross margins at 34.2% compared with consensus estimates at 34%, with “the slight upside driven by permanent cost cuts and reductions in product and transportation costs.” “All in, we see slight upside potential to […]

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Walmart Fiscal Q1 Adjusted Earnings Likely to Miss Market Estimates, BofA Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Walmart’s (WMT) fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings and US comparable sales are expected to fall short of market estimates while traffic trends are seen remaining strong, BofA Securities said Friday. The retail giant is scheduled to report fiscal Q1 results Thursday. BofA expects adjusted earnings of $0.51 per share and US same-store sales growth of 3.5%. The market consensus is for $0.52 and 3.7% growth, respectively, according to the firm. “Our F1Q comp forecast implies a slight deceleration vs. F4Q’s +4.0% given moderating grocery inflation and likely continued softness in general merchandise,” BofA analyst Robert Ohmes said. “However, we think strong observed transactions for WMT in F1Q according to Bloomberg Second Measure card data implies continued strong underlying momentum for WMT.” BofA maintained its buy rating on the Walmart stock, with a $67 price objective.

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Home Depot, Lowe’s Likely Face ‘Subdued’ Expectations Heading Into Quarterly Prints, Oppenheimer Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary / ,

Home Depot (HD) and Lowe’s (LOW) likely face “subdued” expectations for their upcoming financial results amid continued macro headwinds for the home improvement retail sector, Oppenheimer said Friday. Home Depot is scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter results Tuesday, while Lowe’s will report May 21. Oppenheimer expects Home Depot to report earnings of $3.49 a share and a comparable-store sales decline of 3.5%. Wall Street is looking for $3.60 and a 2.2% fall, respectively, the brokerage said in a note. Lowe’s EPS is pegged at $2.94, with comparable-store sales seen dropping 6.5%, versus the Street’s expectations for EPS of $2.95 and comparable sales down 5.7%, according to the note. “Consumer demand trends within home improvement retail remain challenged and are likely to stay sluggish, at least through 2024, owing to ongoing post-pandemic dislocations, weaker underlying confidence, and historically subdued housing activity, aggravated by elevated rates,” Oppenheimer analysts Brian Nagel, William

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Warner Bros. Discovery Eyes Turnaround With Upcoming Disney+ Bundle and NBA Deal, Analysts Say

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Keybanc analyst Brandon Nispel upgraded Warner Bros. Discovery Inc (NASDAQ:WBD) from Sector Weight to Overweight and a $11 price target. WBD reported fiscal first-quarter revenue of $9.96 billion, a 6.9% year-on-year decrease, according to Nispel. This was against a consensus of $10.25 billion. The total adjusted EBITDA of $2.10 billion, a 19.5% year-on-year decrease, fell short of the consensus of $2.18 billion. Nispel added that a $200 million content impairment for the Studios segment negatively impacted the results. However, free cash flow (FCF) of $390 million exceeded the consensus of $8.0 million, thanks to a strike that improved working capital and reduced capital spending. Nispel noted that the numbers have likely bottomed out. Regardless, a resolution to the NBA issue is expected to be positive. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) profitability, subscriber growth, and average revenue per user (ARPUs) are all expected to continue improving. According to Nispel, the stock is washed out and likely ready for

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CFRA Upholds Buy Rating On Shares Of Fiserv, Inc.

/ / Industrials /

FI’s Q1 earnings were strong and are being well received today, driven by 1) better-than-expected bottom line results (adj-EPS of $1.88 surpassed consensus by $0.09); 2) sustained Clover revenue uptick, up 30% Y/Y with VAS penetration of 20%; and 3) raised 2024 guidance for adj-EPS of $8.60-$8.75 and adj-operating margin expansion of at least 125 bps. Q1 adj-revenues came in at $4.54B (+7%, +20% organically), led by Merchant Solutions (+13%, +36% organically). Financial Solutions were a little softer (+2%, +5% organically), but we note key client wins should support demand for digital payment solutions. Our 12-month target price of $180 (unchanged), 18.1x our 2025 EPS estimate, is a slight premium to FI’s three-year average of 17.0x. We up our 2024 EPS view by $0.10 to $8.75 and keep 2025’s at $9.95. Our outlook remains positive given the opportunity we see in Merchant Solutions, specifically Clover, based on sustained annualized GPV

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CFRA Maintains Buy Recommendation On Shares Of Akamai Technologies, Inc.

/ / Technology /

We trim our target price to $103 from $132, on a P/E of 16x our NTM EPS view of $6.42, above its three-year historical average on rising momentum in its Security and Compute businesses. We cut our 2024 EPS view to $6.38 from $6.76 and drop our 2025 EPS forecast to $6.96 from $7.49. AKAM posted Q1 revenue of $987M, missing consensus by $2.18M, and non-GAAP EPS of $1.64 beat by $0.03. Security revenue accelerated 21% Y/Y (vs. 6.4% in Q1 2023), while Compute revenue increased 25% Y/Y. Compute registered strong momentum from rapid growth in customer count and uptake of new cloud computing solutions, up more than 4x on a year-over-year basis. Security saw continued strength with Zero Trust, its Guardicore segmentation solution, and Akamai API security. However, Content delivery was weaker than expected from slower traffic growth and cost optimization efforts with a large social media customer. We

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Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

/ / Financials /

Robinhood Markets (HOOD)Q1 2024 Earnings CallMay 08, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:   Operator Hello and welcome to Robinhood first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers’ presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to Chris Koegel, VP of corporate FP&A and investor relations. You may begin. Chris Koegel — Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis Thank you, Joanda, and thank you, everyone, for joining Robinhood’s Q1 earnings call. With us today are CEO and Co-Founder Vlad Tenev and CFO Jason Warnick. Before getting started, I want to remind you that today’s call will contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from our expectations, and we have no duty to provide updates unless legally required. Potential risk factors

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Alphabet’s Talks to Acquire HubSpot Advance

/ / Technology /

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) is in advanced discussions to acquire HubSpot (HUBS), negotiating terms of a potential deal, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The companies are still in talks, with no final agreement reached yet, and there’s no assurance that a deal will materialize, sources told Bloomberg, adding that another potential buyer could also emerge. HubSpot, specializing in customer relationship management for smaller businesses, currently has a market value of $30 billion, the report said. Last month, Reuters reported that Google parent Alphabet had engaged in discussions with bankers regarding a potential offer for HubSpot.

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Airbnb Stock Plummets As JPMorgan Analyst Praises ‘Solid Q1, Stable Q2, Acceleration In Q3’

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Shares of Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) declined by 7.69% to $147.75 in the premarket session on Thursday and continued to tank after the house-rental company reported first-quarter results. The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth reiterated a Neutral rating, while raising the price target from $140 to $145. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan maintained a Sell rating, while lifting the price target from $123 to $130. BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian Pitz reaffirmed a Market perform rating, while raising the price target from $135 to $151. Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion maintained a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $145 to $155. Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt reiterated a Neutral rating and price target of $160. JMP Securities analyst Nicholas Jones reaffirmed a Market Perform rating on the stock. KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson maintained a Sector Weight rating on the stock.

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Apple Stock Has Room to Rise. Don’t ‘Underestimate’ the IPhone. — Barrons.com

/ / Technology /

By Angela Palumbo Apple stock has been regaining its footing after earnings, and Evercore ISI expects more gains, largely from the tech company’s most popular product. Analyst Amit Daryanani rates Apple at Outperform with a target of $220 for the price, which implies a gain of 20% from its closing level of $182.74 on Wednesday. The stock has dropped 4.7% this year but is up 5.6% over the past 12 months. Wall Street has been waiting to see how Apple will respond as other tech companies unveil initiatives linked to generative artificial intelligence, as well as whether it can improve its market share in China. Concern about both points has weighed on the stock, but Daryanani said in a note Thursday that “investors should not underestimate the ability of the iPhone to continue to deliver growth over the next five years.” The iPhone is by far the largest revenue generator

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CFRA Keeps Buy Opinion On Shares Of Airbnb, Inc

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

We cut our 12-month target price to $170 from $188, on an above-peer P/E of 32x our 2025 view. We lift our 2024 EPS view to $4.67 from $4.61 and cut 2025’s to $5.30 from $5.36. ABNB posted Q1 adj. EBITDA of $424M vs. $262M, beating the $326M consensus. Revenue rose 18%, underpinned by a 12% increase in GBV. Top-line strength was driven by a 10% rise in Nights/Experiences booked to $133M, reflecting sustained vigor in travel demand and the favorable timing of Easter. Revenue was further driven by higher take rates and steady supply growth of 17%. Geographically, performance was mixed, with NA and EMEA remaining stable, while Latin America and Asia Pacific exhibited strong bookings growth of 19% and 21%, respectively. Looking ahead, we anticipate a moderation in nights growth across the industry, but expect ABNB to gain market share through new offerings like Icons, Group Trips, and

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Uber on Course for Long-Term Growth Despite Recent Potholes, BofA Securities Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Uber Technologies (UBER) topped Wall Street expectations on most measures when it reported its Q1 results earlier this week and the ride-hailing company is poised to to catch up and eventually surpass many of its peers over the next year and beyond, BofA Securities said Thursday in a research note. Uber took a 6% hit during Wednesday trading after reporting an unexpected Q1 net loss, but the BoA analysts hardly mentioned the earnings miss, instead focusing on metrics like bookings, revenue and free cash flow growth. By those measures, the company was rolling along well, they said, writing Thursday Uber shares are now “attractively valued.” BoA Securities also lowered its price target for Uber shares to $87 from $91 previously to reflect a small discount for the company to the so-called FANG stocks – Facebook (META); Amazon.com (AMZN); Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOG, GOOGL) – setting the pace for consumer-oriented

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