Author: Priya Nigam

Fox Corp (NASDAQ:FOXA) is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter results on April 14.

According to Goldman Sachs, the EBITDA estimate for the fiscal third quarter has been reduced from $818 million to $753 million, slightly below the consensus of $755 million. Revenue was $4.11 billion, versus the consensus of $4.16 billion.

The Fox Analyst: Analyst Michael Ng maintained a Buy rating and price target of $60.

The Fox Thesis: Ng said in the note that the company could report Cable Network EBITDA of $803 million, beating the consensus of $788 million.

He added, however, that Fox’s revenue momentum may be offset by elevated operating expenses “on heightened news gathering costs post-election.”

The analyst lowered the estimate for Television EBITDA from $101 million to $36 million, below consensus of $47 million, “reflecting a more negative view on Super Bowl profitability.”

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Super Bowl could generate around $650 million in revenue, with the sports rights costing $700 million, leading to losses of approximately $50 million, he stated.

Fox is the “best positioned to navigate through changes in pay TV given its sports & news focused portfolio and TV ratings momentum across FOX broadcast and Fox News,” Ng wrote.

FOXA Price Action: Shares of Fox had risen by 2.39% to $54.66 at the time of publication on Tuesday.

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Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) is scheduled to report its fiscal second-quarter earnings on Thursday.

While the company is likely to report its quarterly results broadly in-line with expectations, there is “some potential revenue upside, but some risk to margins,” according to RBC Capital Markets.

The Micron Technology Analyst: Analyst Matt Bryson reaffirmed an Outperform rating and price target of $125.

The Micron Technology Thesis: Softer DRAM and NAND pricing in the beginning of this year could push the company’s margins into the lower half of the fiscal second-quarter guidance range, Bryson said in the note.

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Micron Technology had suggested that its sequential revenue growth in the fiscal third quarter may be boosted by improved shipment levels, with a rebound in client demand and normalization of customer inventory levels, the analyst stated.

He added, however, that the company expects this to cause a mix shift towards lower margin parts that could cause margins to contract by a “few hundred bps.”

“With our model already contemplating a 260 bps dip in GMs and a modest lift in revenues, we see some potential again MU is able to project revenue upside vs. our estimates, but also with more modest margins vs. our expectations,” Bryson further wrote.

Price Action: Shares of Micron Technology had risen by 0.38% to $102.10 at the time of publication on Wednesday.

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Nike Inc (NYSE:NKE) will report fiscal third-quarter results on Thursday, March 20.

Analysts already incorporated company challenges in the guidance. The results are likely to be broadly in line with expectations, according to Telsey Advisory Group.

The Nike Analyst: Analyst Cristina Fernández reaffirmed a Market Perform rating and price target of $80.

The Nike Thesis: Given lower demand for its products, a reduction in units of three key lifestyle franchises, and higher promotions to clear inventory, the company is likely to report a 12% decline in sales versus consensus of 11.3%, Fernández said in a note.

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Gross margins are likely to have contracted to 41.5%, versus consensus of 41.8%, she added.

The analyst mentioned the key areas to watch during the earnings call:

• Progress on inventory reduction
• Impact of the shift in clearance activity from ecommerce to factory stores
• Magnitude of further reductions in lifestyle franchise units
• Pace of product innovation and potential for new products
• Retro products making a comeback to offset declines in other parts of the business
• The recently announced launch of the NikeSKIMS brand to broaden the reach for Nike in women’s apparel

While Nike will announce the initial guidance for fiscal 2026, it had indicated that reductions in lifestyle franchise units, a mix shift toward lower margin products, and steps to improve relationships with wholesale partners will have adverse impacts on both sales and profitability in fiscal 2026, she stated.

“We don’t expect a significant direct impact to Nike from tariffs given the majority of Nike products manufactured in China (15% of total) serve the Chinese market, with only a small portion of those imported into the US (both adidas and Under Armour have noted that only 3%-4% of the products made in China are sold in the US),” Fernández further wrote.

Price Action: Shares of Nike had risen by 2.09% to $73.12 at the time of publication on Monday.

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Shares of Planet Fitness Inc (NYSE:PLNT) were rising in early trading on Monday, a day ahead of the company reporting its fourth-quarter results.

The company’s price hikes for new members are likely to be accretive, resulting in a 2.1% upside to the current consensus EBITDA estimate for 2025, according to RBC Capital Markets.

The Planet Fitness Analyst: Logan Reich maintained an Outperform rating and price target of $120.

The Planet Fitness Thesis: After the company raised the price for its base membership for new members by 50% last year, there has been debate about whether the price hike could more than offset a decline in new members, Reich said in the note.

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RBC’s analysis suggests that the risk of a slowdown in new members is less than what is currently priced in, since only 3.6% of all Planet Fitness’ locations face competition from a cheaper competitor within a 1-mile radius, the analyst stated.

“And while 22% of PLNT locations had a cheaper competitor within a 5-mile radius, members typically only drive ~4 miles to a gym on average where driving just 2 miles further would be a 50% increase in driving time,” he wrote.

The analysis suggests consensus estimates could be raised by 1.2% for system sales and by 2.1% for EBITDA for 2025, Reich further said.

PLNT Price Action: Shares of Planet Fitness had risen by0.78% to $97.65 at the time of publication on Monday.

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IBM (NYSE:IBM) is scheduled to host its Investor Day on Feb. 4.

The event is likely to be “a positive catalyst for the stock,” according to Goldman Sachs.

The IBM Analyst: Analyst James Schneider maintained a Buy rating and price target of $250.

The IBM Thesis: Management is likely to announce its medium-term (2025 to 2027) target reflecting mid-single digit revenue growth, broadly in-line with Street estimates, Schneider said in the note.

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“We expect free cash flow to grow in the high-single-digit range, in excess of revenue growth in this period,” he wrote.

The focus at the event would be on IBM’s Software revenue targets, given the ongoing improvement in the company’s portfolio mix and Red Hat’s outperformance, the analyst stated. He added that the company is likely to raise its medium-term target for Software to high-single-digit revenue growth, from its prior guidance of mid-single-digit growth.

“We think the stock could move higher on this guidance if management is able to articulate its overall Software strategy, which is centered around open source and DevOps solutions for large enterprise customers,” Schneider further wrote.

IBM Price Action: Shares of IBM had risen by 0.59% to $226.11 at the time of publication on Tuesday.

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Yelp Inc (NYSE:YELP) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary Google in August. According to BofA Securities, growing competition from online food delivery platforms is expected to keep putting pressure on Yelp’s growth.

Analyst Nitin Bansal initiated coverage of Yelp with an Underperform rating and a price target of $30.

The Yelp Thesis: Yelp’s usage is declining, as is evident from the platform’s shrinking user base, Bansal said in the initiation note.

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According to Sensor Tower, Yelp mobile MAUs (monthly active users) have contracted by 70% since 2018 and are down 5% year to date, with the BrightLocal survey suggesting that alternate review platforms like Instagram and TikTok are becoming more popular, he added.

“The company also faces strong competition from Google that creates challenges in growing review share,” the analyst wrote. He further stated that increasing competition in the Restaurant, Retail & Other segment, which accounts for roughly a third of the company’s total revenues, will continue to impact the platform’s growth outlook.

“We see downside risk to Street’s 2025/26 estimates and expect downward revisions to pressure multiple,” Bansal said.

YELP Price Action: Shares of Yelp were down 3.1% to $33.35 at the time of publication on Monday.

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Shares of Adobe Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE) were climbing in early trading on Wednesday, ahead of the release of the company’s fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday.

Expectations for the company’s upcoming quarterly results are “depressed,” according to JPMorgan.

The Adobe Analyst: Mark Murphy maintained a Neutral rating and price target of $570 on the stock.

The Adobe Thesis: Investors remain cautious in view of Adobe’s fiscal first-quarter performance as well as several application software companies reporting misses over the recent weeks, Murphy said in a note.

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There are also concerns around “GenAI not flowing through in revenue at the application layer,” while “potentially driving a pause in larger, transformational IT projects,” the analyst stated. Adobe is also facing rising competition from GenAI native vendors, he added.

Following Adobe’s disappointing NNARR (net new annual recurring revenue) performance in the previous quarter, the stock is down 20% year-to-date, versus a 13% gain by the S&P 500 in the same period, Murphy wrote. He further said that the company’s shares are currently trading “well below our price target for the first time in a while.”

ADBE Price Action: Shares of Adobe were up 1.6% to $470.22 at the time of publication on Wednesday.

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DoorDash Inc (NASDAQ:DASH) is partnering with Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) to make an entry into the home improvement market.

The monetization potential of the company’s new retail vectors, including grocery and convenience, is likely to become “more tangible over the next 12+ months,” according to Benchmark.

The DoorDash Analyst: Mark Zgutowicz initiated coverage of DoorDash with a Buy rating and price target of $165.

The DoorDash Thesis: Given its massive scale, the company’s foray into new verticals could afford it “greater velocity of revenue and contribution margin” than is reflected in the current consensus, Zgutowicz said in the initiation note.

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The divergence between DoorDash and the “well-funded #2” Uber Technologies Inc’s (NYSE:UBER) Uber Eats continues to grow, with the former comfortably holding “a 3x relative share position” since 2020, the analyst stated.

“DASH’s relative advantages in network scale, S&M leverage, and fixed cost leverage, along with “dramatic” internal improvement in grocery profitability TTM, sets the table for U.S. grocery GOV and contribution profitability inflection NTM+,” Zgutowicz wrote.

“DASH has yet to meaningfully tap into Retail Media advertising, an important point to consider for attach rates to non-restaurant GOV over the next several years,” he added.

DASH Price Action: Shares of DoorDash had risen by 0.59% to $139.60 at the time of publication on Thursday.

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