Earnings Previews: Halliburton, IBM, Steel Dynamics

The news from U.S. airlines Thursday morning was mixed. United Airlines reported results that beat top-line and bottom-line estimates on Wednesday but issued downside guidance for both the first quarter and the fiscal 2022. Before Thursday’s opening bell, American Airlines reported similar results and guidance. Both traded down more than 1% shortly after the opening bell.

Looking ahead to Thursday afternoon, we have previewed earnings reports due from CSX, Netflix and PPG Industries. We also have previewed reports due out Friday morning from Ally Financial, Huntington Bancshares and Schlumberger.

As usual, no earnings reports are scheduled for Friday afternoon. Here are our previews of three companies reporting results Monday.

Halliburton

Oilfield services firm Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) is expected to report fourth-quarter results before markets open on Monday. The stock posted a new 52-week high on January 14, after bouncing all year long. The good news for Halliburton was that each bounce was higher than the previous one. If the reaction is like that given to competitor Baker Hughes Thursday morning, investors are going to be eyeing rising oil prices and the promise of added drilling more than the quarterly numbers. Halliburton’s share price is up almost 38% over the past 12 months.

Of 30 analysts covering the company, 22 rate the shares at Buy or Strong Buy and six have Hold ratings. At a recent price of around $28.20 a share, the upside potential based on a median price target of $30.50 is 8.2%. At the high target of $38, the implied gain is 34.8%.

Fourth-quarter revenue is forecast to come in at $4.09 billion, which would be up 5.9% sequentially and 26.2% higher year over year. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) are forecast at $0.34, up 5.9% sequentially and 89% year over year. For the full year, analysts are forecasting EPS of $1.07, up nearly 65%, on sales of $15.10 billion, up 4.6%.

Halliburton stock trades at 26.5 times expected 2021 EPS, 16.4 times estimated 2022 earnings of $1.73 and 12.6 times estimated 2023 earnings of $2.25 per share. The stock’s 52-week range is $17.23 to $29.20, and the company pays an annual dividend of $0.18 (yield of 0.63%). Halliburton’s total shareholder return for the past year was 43.8%.

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IBM

Shares of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) have added 12.7% over the past 12 months and were up nearly 17% in 2021. Both numbers include a share price plunge of 15% between mid-October and late November. IBM reports quarterly and full-year results after Monday’s closing bell.

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