3 Stocks to Watch on Wednesday: Nike Inc (NKE), Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (SLW) and FedEx Corporation (FDX)

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Tuesday was the most disastrous day for U.S. equities since October, though luckily, that’s not saying much. It was the first 1%-plus down day for the major indices in roughly five months; the S&P 500 Index fell 1.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 0.18%.

3 Stocks to Watch on Wednesday: Nike Inc (NKE), Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (SLW) and FedEx Corporation (FDX), As the fourth-quarter earnings season comes to a close, a few major companies are still trickling in. Moving this morning on their latest reports are FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) and Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:FDX).

Here’s how these companies performed:

Nike Inc (NKE)

NKE shares were down solidly Wednesday morning despite a bottom-line beat for the company’s fiscal third quarter.

The athletic apparel and footwear giant earned 68 cents per share on an adjusted basis — a pretty significant margin ahead of analysts’ expectations for just 53 cents per share.

Where Nike disappointed was on the revenue front. Sales of $8.43 billion came in just shy of $8.47 billion, and were plagued by a mere 3% increase in North American revs. Later on in the quarterly earnings call, CEO Mark Parker said that U.S. retail is “not in a steady state.” And that’s not because of macroeconomic issues. “Consumer demand remains quite strong, but expectations remain high in terms of product, the innovation and the style,” he said.

Particularly disturbing to analysts was a drop of 140 basis points in gross margins to 44.5%. Wall Street had been watching that closely in response to thinning margins in previous quarters.

And while Nike could point to strong growth in its digital channels, that only helped to offset the problems caused by weaker foot traffic in physical retail outlets across the country.

Late Tuesday’s decline in NKE stock accelerated Wednesday morning, with shares off about 4% in early morning trade.

Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (SLW)

Mining giant SLW is headed higher this morning on its latest quarterly data.

The Canadian gold and silver outfit earned $10.9 million, or 2 cents per share, for its fourth quarter — a swing in the right direction after posting a loss in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, profits of 19 cents per share beat expectations by a pair of pennies.

Revenues of $258 million for the period also topped expectations for $252.9 million.

Silver equivalent sales volume came to 15.2 million ounces, up 12% year-over-year. The company also sold a record 108,900 ounces of gold. SLW also managed to keep expenses in line, up only 8 cents per silver equivalent ounce YOY to $4.59 per ounce.

The company forecast 28 million ounces of silver production and 340,000 ounces of gold for 2017, and expects the next five years overall to look pretty similar.

SLW stock is up about 3% in response to the strong report.

FedEx Corporation (FDX)

FDX underwhelmed in its fiscal Q3, but is still headed higher this morning.

The global delivery company posted adjusted earnings of $2.35 per share over the course of its third quarter — well short of the consensus estimate for $2.62 per share, and down from the year-ago period’s $2.51 per share. More of a bright spot — sales of $15 billion came in line with expectations, and were higher 18% year-over-year.

High fuel prices were the culprit in FedEx’s Q3, as was having one less day of its premium services.

That said, the company is projecting a big leap in fiscal 2017 earnings as its TNT Express merger will finally be included in results. FedEx expects to earn between $10.80 and $11.30 per share.

While FDX initially dipped hard following its report Tuesday evening, it’s set to open Wednesday with a gain of 2% to 3%.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/03/3-stocks-to-watch-on-wednesday-nike-inc-nke-silver-wheaton-corp-usa-slw-and-fedex-corporation-fdx/.

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