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Fitbit Beats Q1 Targets, But Disappoints On Q2 EPS Outlook

Fitbit ( FIT ) late Wednesday smashed Wall Street’s targets for the first quarter, but delivered mixed guidance for the current quarter that disappointed investors. Fitbit stock plunged as much as nearly 12% in after-hours trading following the earnings news release. In Wednesday’s regular session, Fitbit stock dipped a fraction, to 17.10. Fitbit made its IPO last June, pricing shares at 20. The maker of wearable fitness devices earned 10 cents a share excluding items on sales of $505.4 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected 3 cents and $444.3 million. On a year-over-year basis, Q1 sales rose 50%. But that’s down from 92% growth in Q4, 168% in Q3 and 253% in Q2. Q1 earnings per share dropped 63% from 27 cents in the year-earlier period. For the current quarter, Fitbit is projecting earnings per share of 8 to 11 cents excluding items on sales of $565 million to $585 million, or $575 million at the midpoint. Wall Street had been modeling for Fitbit to earn 26 cents a share, up 24%, on sales of $531.3 million, up 33%. For the year, Fitbit expects non-GAAP EPS of $1.12 to $1.24 on sales of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion. Analysts on average were looking for 2016 EPS of $1.13 on sales of $2.46 billion. Fitbit competes in the health-and-fitness wearables market with Apple ( AAPL ), Garmin ( GRMN ), Microsoft ( MSFT ), Under Armour ( UA ) and others. Last week, Fitbit announced a distribution deal Chinese e-commerce website Tmall.com , a unit of Alibaba Group ( BABA ), that could bolster its prospects in China.

Investing Action Plan For Thursday: Alibaba, Mobileye, 3D Systems On Tap

Here’s your Investing Action Plan for Thursday: What you need to know as an investor for the coming day. Alibaba Group ( BABA ), 3D Systems ( DDD ),  Tesla Motors ( TSLA ) supplier Mobileye ( MBLY ), Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ) and shale producer EOG Resources ( EOG ) are all due to report earnings Thursday. Alibaba Top Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba is on tap to announce results for its fourth quarter, ended March 31, prior to the market opening on Thursday. Investors will look for a rise in the value of goods sold on its various platforms. The company, sometimes called the Amazon.com ( AMZN ) of China, reported better-than-expected earnings last quarter, but shares fell after it said that growth in gross merchandise volume, a measure of total value of goods sold, shrank from the prior quarter. First-quarter gross merchandise volume will be key in the upcoming report. Consensus is for a 21% increase in earnings to 56 cents a share on a 33% hike in revenue to $3.58 billion. Alibaba fell 0.9% in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Mobileye The advanced driver assistance systems maker, which sells to luxury electric carmaker Tesla Motors and others, also reports early Thursday. Tesla, General Motors ( GM ), Ford Motor ( F ) and other automakers, along with tech giants like Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Google and reportedly Apple ( AAPL ), are racing to develop autonomous, self-driving car technology. Mobileye’s backup cameras and other high tech gear are seen as key to such systems. On April 19, Mobileye announced a partnership to expand in China with Chinese e-commerce site Ingdan.com, a unit of Hong Kong-based Cogobuy Group. Under terms of the deal, Ingdan.com will sell Mobileye products on its site. Mobileye was down 4.4% Wednesday. Tesla reports first-quarter results after the market close on Wednesday. Analyst consensus is for per share loss to deepen to 57 cents from 37 cents in Q1 2015 as it boosts spending to expand Model X production and build the Gigafactory battery plant in Nevada. Tesla slid 4.7% ahead of results and amid reports that key production chiefs are leaving. 3D Systems 3D Systems will report first-quarter earnings before the market opens Thursday . 3D printing could be poised to recover from a two-year decline. Leaders 3D Systems and Stratasys ( SSYS ) — which reports May 9 — grew at a rapid pace for years by selling so-called “additive printers,” which create physical objects by layering on materials such as plastic and metal to build a variety of devices. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are looking for 3D Systems’ earnings per share minus one-time items to be flat at 5 cents a share vs. Q1 2015 and are projecting a slight dip in revenue to $156.3 million. Sentiment is positive though after 3D Systems crushed estimates last quarter, reporting a 19-cent profit, more than six times the expected 3 cents, and its $183.4 million revenue easily topped forecasts. 3D Systems tumbled 5% intraday Wednesday, undercutting its 50-day line, after tumbling 7.4% Tuesday and 6.3% Monday. Stratasys fell 3.9%. Sprouts Farmers Market Natural and organic foods grocery Sprouts Farmers Market ( SFM ) reports first-quarter financial results early Thursday. Consensus is for earnings to rise 16% to 29 cents a share and revenue to climb 18% to $1.01 billion.But Sprouts has beaten earnings estimates in the last two quarters. Sprouts hass gotten a series of analyst upgrades recently, including Oppenheimer raising its price target Monday to 30 from 26 with a hold rating. Sprouts rose 0.5%. In contrast, rival Whole Foods Market ( WFM ) has delivered below market performance this year and is scheduled to report after the close Wednesday. Its earnings and revenue growth both shrank the last two quarters in a row. Its stock is down 15% year to date and was down about 1% Wednesday afternoon. EOG Resources Oil and natural gas producer EOG Resources ( EOG ) will report results late Thursday. Gas prices climbed to a six-month high at a national average of $2.22 per gallon as the industry tries to recover from plunging prices. EOG is expected to record an 84 cents loss vs. a 3 cent profit in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue is projected to fall 28.1% to $1.67 billion. EOG shares were down 1.5% Wednesday. On Wednesday, Carrizo Oil & Gas ( CRZO ) and Noble Energy ( NBL ) raised production targets .

Can Alibaba Beat Earnings Expectations On This Important Metric?

China e-commerce giant Alibaba Group ( BABA ) will post quarterly earnings before the market open Thursday, with investors hoping for a strong boost in the value of goods sold on its various platforms. Analysts are looking for the China e-commerce giant to report revenue of $3.58 billion, up 33% in local currency, and EPS of 56 cents, up 21% in local currency, for the company’s fiscal Q4 ended March 31. Alibaba reported better-than-expected fiscal Q3 earnings, but shares fell 4% that day due to a slowdown in a key metric known as gross merchandise volume. GMV is the total value of goods sold on the Alibaba platforms. In fiscal Q3, Alibaba’s GMV rose 23% to $149 billion, slowing from an increase of 28% in fiscal Q2. For the March quarter, Wall Street expects Alibaba is to report GMV growth of 22%, to $112 billion. Among those looking above that consensus, ITG Investment Research analyst Henry Guo projects GMV growth of 23.5%, while RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney pegs it at a more optimistic 29%. Mahaney rates Alibaba stock outperform, with a price target of 89. Alibaba stock was down a fraction, near 75.50, in morning trading in the stock market today . The stock is up 27% from a seven-month low of 59.25 touched on Feb. 9. Alibaba competes with JD.com ( JD ), Baidu ( BIDU ) and Tencent Holdings ( TCEHY ) in various segments of China’s Internet economy. JD is China’s largest online direct-sales retailer, Tencent dominates in messaging and gaming, and Baidu is China’s search leader. The four are the largest Internet companies in China and have been investing aggressively in new areas to spur growth. JD is scheduled to report earnings before the market open on May 9.