3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Guess?, Inc. (GES), HP Inc (HPQ) and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM)

Advertisement

U.S. equities declined Wednesday in part thanks to a sharp 9.4% dip in new-home sales that fell below expectations. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.3%.

3 Stocks to Watch on Thursday: Guess?, Inc. (GES), HP Inc (HPQ) and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM)Thursday’s morning action is once again dominated by second-quarter earnings reports. In the spotlight today are Guess?, Inc. (NYSE:GES), HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM), all of which just unveiled their most recent financial results.

Here’s a look at what’s catching Wall Street’s attention today:

Guess?, Inc. (GES)

GES shares are popping this morning after the company released a strong second-quarter earnings report.

The fashion retailer posted earnings of $15.2 million (18 cents per share) in its fiscal second quarter. On an adjusted basis, earnings of 19 cents per share were up roughly 27% year-over-year and topped expectations for 10 cents.

Guess’ revenues amounted to $573.3 million for the period, an uptick of about 5% compared to the year-ago period. The figure also beat analysts’ projections of $559 million in sales.

Guess said its strong quarter can be attributed to strong performances in Europe and Asia, as well as lower costs in its supply chain. Said CEO Victor Herrero, “We have now increased revenues for four consecutive quarters and we expect consolidated revenues to continue to increase despite store closures in North America.”

Looking forward, Guess is looking for revenues in a range of $556 million to $567 million for the third quarter, which should filter down to profits of 8 to 11 cents per share.

GES stock is surging by 14% in Thursday’s early trade.

HP Inc (HPQ)

HPQ shares are on the decline despite a mostly positive fiscal third-quarter report.

HP earned $696 million (41 cents per share) in its Q3, a decline of about 11% year-over-year. However, adjusted earnings of 42 cents per share were a penny better than the consensus estimate.

Revenues, meanwhile, were up 10% to $13.1 billion, also enough to beat the Street’s mark of $12.3 billion.

“We stabilized supplies revenue a quarter earlier than expected, posted double-digit revenue growth, delivered non-GAAP earnings per share at the high end of our previously provided outlook and generated approximately $1.7 billion in free cash flow,” said President and CEO Dion Weisler.

HP forecasts that its fourth-quarter earnings will be in a range of 42 cents to 45 cents per share, on an adjusted basis. The midpoint of that range was just slightly below analysts’ expectations for 44 cents per share. For the full year, HP is looking for adjusted earnings of $1.63 to $1.66 per share.

HPQ shares are off by more than 2% this morning.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (WSM)

Lastly, WSM stock is making a solid move higher Thursday on the back of a quality second-quarter performance.

The home furnishings and cookware provider reported income of $52.9 million (61 cents per share), a 5% improvement over the year-ago figure. That figure also was 2 cents better than analysts’ expectations.

Williams-Sonoma’s revenues came to $1.2 billion, improving 3.5% year-over-year, though the figure was merely in line with the pros’ consensus estimate. That came on comparable-store sales growth of 2.8%. That was led by a 10.1% jump in comps for its West-Elm brand, followed by 2.9% growth for the legacy Williams-Sonoma brand and a 1.2% uptick for Pottery Barn.

In the current quarter, Williams-Sonoma issued earnings guidance in the range of 80 cents to 87 cents per share. Analysts were expecting a midpoint of 82 cents per share. Meanwhile, the company is looking for revenues between $1.27 billion and $1.31 billion, with that midpoint also beating the Street, which was looking for a top line of $1.28 billion.

WSM shares are climbing 8% higher in Thursday morning’s action.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/08/3-stocks-to-watch-on-thursday-guess-inc-ges-hp-inc-hpq-and-williams-sonoma-inc-wsm/.

©2024 InvestorPlace Media, LLC