What to expect when Boeing and Visa report this week
Two of the top five Dow stocks have reported this week, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average again to record highs and nearly half of the way to 24,000. The Dow only reached 23,000 about a week ago and is making short work of reaching another milestone.
Most of the rally in 2017 has been reinforced by strong earnings, with the likes of IBM and UnitedHealth propelling the average higher last week. Now, 3M and Caterpillar are adding more fuel to fire with incredible third-quarter reports.
Coming Wednesday, another two of these top five are reporting, with Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) to release earnings before the markets open. Boeing has been by far and away the top Dow stock of 2017 with its shares up about 70% year to date, with the next highest Dow component, Caterpillar, up just below 50%. Visa takes the third spot with its shares up nearly 40%.
Needless to say, the Dow has been on an absolute tear this year and with the way that earnings have been going so far, 24,000 might be coming much sooner than anticipated.
Consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters calling for Boeing to have $2.66 in earnings per share (EPS) and $23.9 bln in revenue. The same period of last year reportedly had EPS of $3.51 and $23.9 bln in revenue.
Earlier this month, Boeing announced that it delivered 202 commercial jets in the third quarter, well above the 169 it delivered in the first quarter and the 183 the company delivered in the second quarter. For the first three quarters of the year, Boeing has delivered 554 commercial passenger airplanes.
At that time, the company also signed an agreement to acquire Aurora Flight Sciences Corp., a firm that specialises in autonomous systems and electric propulsion systems. The terms were not disclosed, and Aurora will operate under Boeing’s engineering, test and technology group.
In addition to delivering 202 airplanes last quarter, Boeing also added 127 new orders to its backlog.
Shares of Boeing were last seen down up 1.5% at $266.14 on Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $276.41 and a 52-week trading range of $136.72 to $266.73.
Thomson Reuters has consensus estimates of $0.85 in EPS and revenue of $4.63 bln for Visa. In the fiscal fourthquarter of last year, Visa posted $0.78 in EPS and $4.26 bln in revenue.
Visa’s rally over the course of this year has been slow and steady, with the stock not taking any major steps back. For the most part, Visa’s earnings have reinforced its performance as well and making the case for these all-time highs.
A growing trend in online payment processing has been a strong tailwind for the stock since it partnered with PayPal back in July 2016.
In its most recent earnings report, Visa saw payments volume growth, on a constant dollar basis up 38% year over year. The company processed a total of 28.5 bln transactions during the quarter, a 44% increase. Total processed transactions growth was 13%, inclusive of Europe, which was included in prior-year results.
We might expect to see similar numbers coming in this report, although the year-over-year numbers could be even better following the PayPal partnership.
Shares of Visa were recently trading at $108.14. The stock has a 52-week range of $75.17 to $109.26 and a consensus price target of $117.69. (Source: 24/7 Wall St.com)