Earnings Previews: American Eagle Outfitters, ChargePoint, C3.ai, GameStop, UiPath

U.S. markets were closed on Monday, and no earnings reports were released on Friday.

After markets close Tuesday, GitLab and Zscaler are scheduled to release quarterly earnings reports.

Here is a preview of what analysts are looking for when the following five firms report results after U.S. markets close on Wednesday.

American Eagle Outfitters

Specialty retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) has seen its share price rise by nearly 25% over the past 12 months, with the lion’s share of that gain coming this calendar year.

The mall store operator has beaten analysts’ sales forecasts in each of the past four quarters while managing to beat earnings per share (EPS) forecasts twice and matching estimates twice. The company boosted its revenue and EPS guidance early in August, so investors are expecting big things. American Eagle now needs to deliver.

Of 12 analysts covering the stock, just three rate it as a Buy or Strong Buy, while another seven have Hold ratings. At a recent share price of around $17.00, the stock trades above its median price target of $14.50. At the high price target of $22.00, the implied upside is 29.4%.

Second-quarter 2024 revenue is expected to come in at $1.2 billion, which would be up 11.0% sequentially and flat year over year. Adjusted EPS are forecast to decline by 6.3% sequentially but rise from $0.04 last year to $0.16. For the full year, analysts expect EPS of $1.08, up 11.6%, on sales of $5 billion, up 0.3% year over year.

The stock trades at 16.0 times expected 2024 EPS, 14.7 times estimated 2025 earnings of $1.18 and 12.8 times estimated 2026 earnings of $1.35 per share. Its 52-week trading range is $9.46 to $17.39. American Eagle pays an annual dividend of $0.40 (yield of 2.30%), and the total shareholder return for the past year was 57.45%.

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ChargePoint

Electric vehicle (EV) charging network provider ChargePoint Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CHPT) has dropped more than half its share price over the past 12 months, including a drop of 22% for the calendar year to date. Since reporting first-quarter results in early June, the stock is down 18%.

When Tesla announced that it would open its charging network to all EVs, that set ChargePoint and rival Blink on a scramble that is costing the two companies millions to upgrade their equipment. The upgrade is not due only to Tesla, but the companies’ own networks have experienced reliability problems, and consumers are not happy.

Analysts remain bullish on the stock, with 14 of 19 brokerages having a Buy or Strong Buy rating and the other five rating it at Hold. At a share price of around $7.50, the stock’s implied upside based on a median price target of $14.00 is 86.7%. At the high price target of $27.00, the implied upside is about 260%.

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