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Earnings Calendar: June 12 – 16

The corporate calendar is quiet this week, but there are still some major earnings to watch out for. In the US, the headline updates will come out from software giants Oracle (ORCL) and Adobe (ADBE), homebuilder Lennar (LEN), grocer Kroger (KR), and manufacturing behemoth Jabil Circuit (JBL).

Atop the UK calendar are results out from supermarket Tesco, auto and bike repair store Halfords, self-storage provider Safestore, safety equipment maker Halma, cybersecurity outfit GB Group and equipment rental firm Ashtead Group.

Below is a calendar outlining all the major earnings we are watching over the coming week:

Oracle stock: Q4 earnings preview

Oracle has suffered from the macroeconomic climate this year but has proven resilient, enough so that the stock is currently trading at all-time highs! Brokers have become increasingly bullish and been hiking their target price on Oracle, suggesting expectations are rising ahead of the results. Out of the nine brokers to up their view in the past week alone, the highest target sits at $130 and the lowest at $106. Revenue is forecast to grow 15.9% from the year before in the fourth quarter to $13.7 billion and adjusted EPS is set to see more muted growth of 2.6% to $1.58. If it meets expectations, then it is on course to report 17% revenue growth and a 2.8% rise in EPS over the full year. The acquisition of Cerner has provided a huge boost to its topline in addition to organic growth, but Oracle’s bottom-line has risen at a much slower rate thanks to higher costs across the board. There are signs that Cerner’s margins are improving as part of Oracle as it reaps rewards from improved scale, which could provide some momentum going forward. With that in mind, the outlook for the new financial year will be key. Wall Street believes Oracle can deliver accelerated growth in annual adjusted EPS of 9.9% to $5.54.

Ashtead Group share price: Q4 earnings preview

Ashtead raised its outlook in the last quarter and shares are currently trading at three-month highs. Brokers believe there is plenty of upside left even after climbing over 17% since the start of May, with the average target price suggesting the equipment rental giant could climb another 18%! Turning to what to expect this week, revenue is forecast to rise 18.7% year-on-year in the fourth quarter to $2,465 million, with rental sales – its core topline metric – expected to rise by a much more tepid 0.8% to $1,889 million. Conditions in the UK remain challenging as sales are set to decline fifth consecutive quarter, partly thanks to the loss of work stemming from the NHS during the pandemic, but countered by strong double-digit growth in North America. Adjusted EPS is expected to be up 15% at $0.83. If it meets those expectations, Ashtead is on course to deliver top-and-bottom line growth of over 20% over the full year, and markets believe it can deliver another year of double-digit growth, albeit slower, in the new financial year. Guidance will be key in how markets react. Analysts believe it can target rental revenue growth of 17.6% in the year to the end of April 2024 and free cashflow of $575 million, which would mark another year of progress considering analysts think pretax profits will also grow at a double-digit pace.

Adobe stock: Q2 earnings preview

Adobe shares have climbed to 14-month highs this week as markets became more excited than ever about its prospects stemming from artificial intelligence. Several brokers hiked their target price on the stock, with Wells Fargo upgrading to Overweight, after Adobe rolled-out its artificial intelligence tool designed to generate images to large business customers. The platform, named Firefly, will be offered to corporate customers as part of Adobe Express. That will allow it to squeeze more out of each customer. Investors will hope for more AI news this week and there is potential it could become the latest stock to experience an massive bump if it hits the right tone. Meanwhile, Adobe is forecast to report a 8.7% year-on-year rise in revenue in the second quarter to $4.77 billion and adjusted EPS is expected to jump 13% to $3.79. This is set to be the fourth consecutive quarter of slower sales growth, but this quarter is expected to be the trough and Wall Street thinks it can quickly return to double-digit topline growth, especially after Adobe raised its outlook back in March. Look at the guidance for the third quarter, when markets anticipate it will target adjusted EPS of $3.89.

Jabil Circuit stock: Q3 earnings preview

Jabil shares are currently trading at all-time highs after surging over 56% in the past year, although there is a risk of this rally facing more resistance considering the manufacturing giant is expected to report its first dip in quarterly sales since 2016, thanks to the weakness in demand for electronics, and a third consecutive quarter of slower earnings growth this week. Revenue is forecast to fall 1.7% year-on-year to $8.2 billion and adjusted EPS is expected to rise 9% to $1.87. Still, there is potential for Jabil, which counts Apple as its largest single customer, to find some momentum considering this will be the first set of results since Kenny Wilson, who has worked his way up the company over the past 23 years, formally took up his role as CEO of the manufacturing giant. Worryingly, both the top and bottom lines are expected to fall in the third quarter, so the outlook will be influential. Wall Street is expecting Jabil to target revenue of $8.6 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.30 in the fourth quarter of its financial year. Hopefully, Jabil’s diverse portfolio can help it impress, with areas like healthcare and renewable energy more resilient whatever the environment compared to its cyclical end markets.

Kroger stock: Q1 earnings preview

Kroger, which is in the process of merging with Albertsons, has delivered record results for three years running and, while the brakes are set to come down as inflation hits consumer spending, it has said this should be another record year for both sales and earnings. For the first quarter, Wall Street forecasts identical sales (excluding fuel) will rise 3% and believe adjusted EPS will dip 1% from last year to $1.44, marking the first bottom-line fall since 2019. However, this could be the trough and its earnings performance should steadily improve this year. Kroger has cut over $1 billion in costs for five consecutive years, showing it is consistently rooting out waste and giving it vital ammo as inflationary pressures its bottom line, especially on wages. The merger with Albertsons is not expected to complete until early 2024 so will not factor into the outlook.

Halfords share price: FY earnings preview

Halfords shares have lost over 6% since the start of 2023 and the stock has underperformed the market, but brokers see almost 15% potential upside from current levels. Halfords has improved its topline but has not fared so well at the bottom. The car and bike repair and supply store is expected to report a 15.6% rise in annual revenue to £1.58 billion, driven by a more than doubling in sales from car servicing following a string of acquisitions that has made it the largest car servicer in the UK. But underlying pretax profit is forecast to plunge 40% to £53.8 million thanks to tighter margins in the inflationary environment and a rise in operating expenses, most notably a doubling in amortisation. Cost-cutting plans have advanced faster than expected, which bodes well for the new year. Yet, Halfords has said visibility is limited and that forecasting what to expect over the coming 12 months is ‘difficult’. It said earlier this year that it wasn’t expecting a recovery in spending on big-ticket, discretionary items but that services, which is now a core focus, should remain resilient. Analysts have a low bar and believe underlying pretax profit will be largely flat in the new financial year as higher costs continue to counter revenue growth and eat into earnings. That suggests Halfords would need to accelerate it cost-cutting programme to impress this week.

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