Tag: 미국주식

“Two steps forward and one step back” is the story that continues to plague BlackBerry’s (BB) execution. Aside from execution challenges, including prolonged revenue declines, investors have also become seemingly frustrated with the management’s inability in recent quarters to generate much-needed cash from a patent portfolio sale.

The Canadian software company is set to report first quarter fiscal 2023 earnings results Thursday after the closing bell. Having fallen 43% in six months and 61% over the past year, BlackBerry stock is currently priced at just four times forward enterprise value to revenue estimates which is half the valuation the cybersecurity sector trades for. And this puts the risk-versus-reward seemingly more favorable. But does that make BlackBerry a good investment in today’s market environment?

The company is in its eighth year under CEO John Chen’s leadership, and the market is still waiting for quarterly and annual revenues to show improvement. The stock earlier this week rose more than 4% after it launched a new version of its platform designed to improve Google (GOOG , GOOGL) Android automotive systems. Aside from cutting costs when they are building in-vehicle infotainment systems, BlackBerry’s new update is said to simplify development and speed up bringing services online.

But how much of this will benefit the company’s top and bottom lines? While some might argue that BlackBerry’s valuation now more appropriately reflects the company’s near-term fundamentals, on Thursday investors will want to see improved trends in its Enterprise Software Services segment (its largest business) which has struggled for several consecutive quarters. The Internet of Things segment will also be an area of focus. With rising software content in vehicles, analysts will want to see whether BlackBerry can capitalize on average selling price per vehicle.

For the quarter that ended May, analysts expect BlackBerry to lose 5 cents per share on revenue of $159.72 million. This compares to the year-ago quarter when it lost 5 cents per share on revenue of $174 million. For the full year, ending February 2023, the loss is expected to be 21 cents per share, reversing a profit of 18 cents a year ago, while full-year revenue of $730.14 million would decline 20.6% year over year.

While the company has done a decent job carving a solid niche within the security segment, its constant underperformance has raised doubts that the company has the right leadership to grow. In the most recent quarter, revenues came in at $185 million, falling about 12% year over year, missing Street estimates by about $1 million. BlackBerry missed Q4 revenue expectations despite the fact that revenue estimates had come down significantly since the start of the prior quarter.

Not only did important metrics for its cybersecurity business showed more erosion, the company guided for essentially no revenue growth this year in that segment. The company’s continued struggle in the cybersecurity segment is concerning. The management guided the cyber business to deliver billings growth between 8% to 12% for the year. Given the level of investments BlackBerry has made in this business, it should be growing at a rate of more than 20%.

Elsewhere, Q4 adjusted gross margin rate was 68%, compared to 73% a year ago. On the bright side, Q4 Licensing revenue was $11 million, beating expectation, while gross margin came in at 55%, slightly above estimates. Investors will want to see improved trends in these areas, along with improved business and operating fundamentals to reverse the slide in the stock price.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

When will FedEx (FDX) stock finally reach its bottom? That question, among others, will be answered when the company reports fourth quarter fiscal 2022 earnings results after the closing bell Thursday.

FedEx management, over the past few quarters, have been more open about the challenges the company is facing regarding demand, labor and supply chain issues. They’ve provided more granular details with the trends they are seeing. However, with the stock currently down 20% over the past year, compared to 13% decline for rival UPS (UPS). Last month FedEx stock, which has underperformed the market and its peers over the past five years, formed what traders refer to as a “double bottom” which often suggests that the market has drawn a near-term line for how low the stock should go relative to its value.

The stock has nonetheless been one of the better performers in the transportation sector and the overall market. Currently down 13% year to date, FedEx has bested the 23% decline in the S&P 500 index. Notably, this is despite the fact that the company continues to struggle with labor issues and costs at FedEx Ground due to supply-chain disruptions. However, the company has taken aggressive steps to address these challenges. The question is whether its efforts will yield meaningful improvements to the bottom line.

On Thursday investors will want to hear that same level of optimism, namely about profitability improvements among FedEx’s various segments. Not only must FedEx beat on the top and bottom lines, it must also guide confidently, suggesting that any improvement can be sustainable.

In the three months that ended May, analysts expect the Memphis, Tenn.-based company to earn $6.88 per share on revenue of $24.47 billion. This compares to the year-ago quarter when earnings came to $5.01 per share on revenue of $22.60 billion. For the full year, earnings are projected to rise 10% year over year to $20.59 per share, up from $18.17 a year ago, while full-year revenue of $93.49 billion would rise 11.4% year over year.

The fact that both full-year revenue and profits are expected to rise amid struggles to supply chains, rising cost and labor shortage is a testament to the ability of the management team. Those headwinds, including increased costs related to network expansion, are expected to affected profits for the quarter. The company can offset these costs if it benefited from a combination of healthy demand and increase online shopping.

Assuming the latter remains strong, FedEx is poised to deliver revenue beat. Likewise, the company’s Ground unit, which accounts for 35% of total revenue, and handles online deliveries for many retailers, will have surpassed estimates. Historically accounting for 50% to 85% of the company’s total operating income, growth in the Ground segment has moderated in recent quarters. In Q3, the company beat on the top, but missed on bottom line.

Q2 revenues grew 10% to $23.64 billion, ahead of estimates by $307 million, while adjusted EPS of $4.59 missed by 6 cents. The company blamed the bottom line miss to higher transportation costs and labor costs. Benefiting from higher revenue per shipment, Q2 operating income rose 38% to $1.46 billion. On the positive side, operating income in FedEx Freight nearly tripled, thanks to continued focus on revenue quality and profitable growth, offsetting decline in FedEx Ground.

Often seen as a bellwether for the overall health of the economy, FedEx’s revenue and profit forecast on Thursday will be closely-watched, mostly for any indication of inflationary pressures.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

In trading on Thursday, the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF is outperforming other ETFs, up about 5.1% on the day. Components of that ETF showing particular strength include shares of Block, up about 8.3% and shares of Twilio, up about 8.1% on the day.

And underperforming other ETFs today is the Copper Miners ETF, down about 4.7% in Thursday afternoon trading. Among components of that ETF with the weakest showing on Thursday were shares of First Quantum Minerals, lower by about 10%, and shares of Lundin Mining, lower by about 6.9% on the day.

VIDEO: Thursday’s ETF Movers: ARKF, COPX

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

In trading on Thursday, oil & gas exploration & production shares were relative laggards, down on the day by about 3.5%. Helping drag down the group were shares of U.S. Well Services, off about 11.3% and shares of Vaalco Energy off about 9.2% on the day.

Also lagging the market Thursday are oil & gas refining & marketing shares, down on the day by about 3.2% as a group, led down by Delek US Holdings, trading lower by about 8.2% and PBF Energy, trading lower by about 6.8%.

VIDEO: Thursday Sector Laggards: Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing Stocks

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.