Apple Stock Is Resilient Despite Weak Guidance as Investors Refocus on AI — Barrons.com

/ / Technology /

By Eric J. Savitz The biggest bombshell in Apple’s December quarter earnings report came on the company’s conference call, when CFO Luca Maestri provided a hugely disappointing forecast for the March quarter. Management’s guidance, implying overall quarterly revenue will fall 5% from a year earlier to about $90 billion, with a drop of nearly 10% in iPhone sales, sent the stock down as much as 3.5% in after-hours trading. Shares opened Friday slightly below $180, the lowest level in nearly three months. But Apple shares have since staged an impressive turnaround, briefly moving into the green before slipping lower again. Wall Street seems to have adopted a view of the quarter laid out by Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring, who described the ugly forecast as a “clearing event” that will allow investors to refocus on the company’s June Worldwide Developers Conference. That is when he thinks Apple will finally disclose […]

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McDonald’s Earnings Preview

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) is set to give its latest quarterly earnings report on Monday, 2024-02-05. Here’s what investors need to know before the announcement. Analysts estimate that McDonald’s will report an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.82. McDonald’s bulls will hope to hear the company announce they’ve not only beaten that estimate, but also to provide positive guidance, or forecasted growth, for the next quarter. New investors should note that it is sometimes not an earnings beat or miss that most affects the price of a stock, but the guidance (or forecast).

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CFRA Cuts View On Shares Of Exxon Mobil To Hold From Buy

/ / Energy /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: Our 12-month target price of $110, cut $11, reflects a 6.5x multiple of enterprise value to projected 2025 EBITDA, in line with XOM’s historical forward average. We cut our 2024 EPS estimate by $1.46 to $8.03 and start 2025’s at $8.41. Q4 EPS of $2.48 vs. $3.40 beat the consensus view by $0.27. Production of 3.82 mmboe/d in Q4 was 2.3% above consensus, helped by growth in the Permian, which XOM believes can rise by a 13% CAGR through 2027. Our downgrade is on a more pessimistic macro outlook for 2024 and 2025, one in which we think crude oil prices average flat to down vs. 2023’s $78/b for U.S. benchmark WTI, and natural gas prices improve only modestly. We think XOM is executing well on the

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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Stock Analyst Ratings

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 02/02/2024 3.07% Stifel $2450 → $2560 Maintains Buy 01/25/2024 2.66% Raymond James $2450 → $2550 Maintains Outperform 01/24/2024 8.66% Citigroup $2292 → $2699 Maintains Buy 01/22/2024 6.69% Baird → $2650 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 01/16/2024 -10.38% Piper Sandler $1930 → $2226 Maintains Neutral 01/05/2024 1.66% Oppenheimer $2225 → $2525 Maintains Outperform 01/04/2024 -1.36% Stifel $2100 → $2450 Maintains Buy 01/03/2024 -9.58% Barclays $1885 → $2246 Maintains Equal-Weight 01/02/2024 12.73% Stephens & Co. $2330 → $2800 Maintains Overweight 12/21/2023 -3.38% Wedbush → $2400 Downgrades Outperform → Neutral 12/07/2023 -1.36% Raymond James $2100 → $2450 Maintains Outperform 12/01/2023 -2.37% RBC Capital $2185 → $2425 Maintains Outperform 10/27/2023 -11.43% TD Cowen → $2200 Reiterates Outperform → Outperform 10/27/2023 -16.66% Morgan Stanley $2010 → $2070 Maintains Equal-Weight 10/27/2023 -6.19% Stephens & Co.

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Piper Sandler(PIPR.US) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference

/ / Financials /

The following is a summary of the Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Piper Sandler reported Q4 net revenues of $457 million, up 49% from the prior quarter and 17% from the same time last year, largely due to strong performance in their advisory business. Net revenues for the year totaled $1.3 billion, a decrease of 7% compared to 2022. The company had an operating income of $99 million and an operating margin of 21.7% for Q4 2023; for the year, these figures were $213 million and 16% respectively. Income tax rate for the quarter was 26.7% and for the year was 19.9% with net income being at $72 million for the quarter and $166 million for the year. The GAAP results for Q4 2023 include a $5.2 million non-compensation-related expense related to potential regulatory settlements and a $3.8 million restructuring charge associated with headcount

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Chevron(CVX.US) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference

/ / Energy /

The following is a summary of the Chevron Corporation (CVX) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript: Financial Performance: Chevron reported an adjusted ROCE of 14%, returning a record $26 billion cash to shareholders in 2023. Q4 2023 production was 867,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company had Q4 earnings of $2.3 billion, while adjusted earnings were $6.5 billion. Adjusted earnings were $730 million higher than the previous quarter, mainly due to higher liftings coupled with record quarterly production. Full-year adjusted earnings dropped near $12 billion from the prior year due to lower prices. The balanced sheet remained strong, with a net debt ratio comfortably in the single digits. The company successfully delivered its four financial priorities, including an 8% increase in dividends and reducing debt by over $4 billion. Business Progress: Chevron expects a 2% to 4% decrease in 1H production, but plans to reach around 900,000 barrels per

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Nvidia Poised For Expansion, Analyst Highlights AI Innovations And Upcoming B100 Accelerator Launch

/ / Technology /

BofA analyst Vivek Arya reiterated a Buy rating on Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), boosting the price target to $800 from $700. The chip designer will report its quarterly earnings after closing on February 21. The analyst will seek for a notable but more measured 3% – 5% or $0.5 billion – $1 billion upside to both the reported fourth quarter (consensus $20 billion) and guided first quarter (consensus $21.4 billion) mainly due to incremental supply gains offset by China restrictions and some transition effects before the B100 accelerator launch planned for the second half of 2024. While a 3% – 5% beat would pale versus the 10% and 22% beat and raise of prior quarters and perhaps disappoint some bulls, the more measured pace will also be seen as creating more fertile ground for continued growth in the calendar year 2025 and beyond. Stepping above quarterly EPS noise, Arya will focus on Nvidia’s flagship

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Estee Lauder Need To Modernize Brand Strategy As Beauty Market Evolves

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Estee Lauder’s ability reclaim its historical level of steady growth is being questioned by RBC Capital Markets in a research note. The analysts say to get there the cosmetics giant needs to modernize its brands and portfolio strategy and may need another restructuring. The believe guidance seems appropriate for the current situation, but they say stock is likely pricing in a faster recovery to top-line than current thinking allows. Furthermore, the narrative on the stock has been focused around its travel retail recovery, but investors should also focus on how the company’s brands adapt to the evolving beauty market. Shares are off 0.2% to $134.54.

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CFRA Cuts View On Shares Of Chevron Corporation To Hold From Buy

/ / Energy /

CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows: Our 12-month target of $160, cut $2, reflects a 5.8x multiple of enterprise value to projected ’25 EBITDA, slightly below CVX’s historical forward average. We think a modest discount is merited by CVX’s exposure to California refining, which is important to CVX’s overall downstream capacity, and is also where we see headwinds looming in ’24. We cut our ’24 EPS view $1.57 to $12.55 and set ’25’s at $13.20. Q4 EPS of $3.45 vs. $4.09, beat the consensus view by $0.23. We are also taking a more pessimistic tone to our outlook for energy prices through ’25. We see WTI prices flat to down vs. the $78/b average in ’22, and see only modest improvement in natural gas pricing. CVX remains cost disciplined, and in ’23 allocated

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Amazon Shares Poised for Gains as Headwinds Dissipate Through 2024, UBS Securities Says

/ / Consumer Discretionary /

Amazon.com (AMZN) shares probably are poised for gains through 2024 as headwinds dissipate, UBS Securities said Friday in a report. Same-day and one-day Prime Delivery, e-commerce segment margin expansion and improving unit economics support the thesis for continued outperformance, UBS said. Also, Amazon’s “cost to serve” decreased for 2023 for the first time since 2018, despite the company raising service levels, UBS said. “Overhangs” such e-commerce deceleration in 2021, margin compression in 2022 and AWS deceleration in 2023 will mostly fade this year, UBS said. The firm maintained its buy rating on the company’s stock and raised its 12-month price target to $198 from $180. Amazon shares rose 7.9% in recent Friday trading.

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