Earnings week ahead: FedEx, Costco, AutoZone, General Mills, Lennar, KB Home and more

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The pace of earnings releases starts to pick up steam as investors move deeper into September. A number of closely followed companies in retail, e-commerce, cannabis, homebuilding, transportation and leisure are all set to report next week.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) headlines the list of big-name firms announcing their results, although much of the suspense about the earnings report was removed by a stark warning the firm issued a week ahead of its earnings day. Elsewhere, Costco (NASDAQ:COST), Darden Restaurants (DRI), KB Home (NYSE:KBH), Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and General Mills (GIS) will also provide their quarterly updates.

Below is a curated list of earnings reports due in during the week of September 19-23:

Monday, September 19

AutoZone (AZO)

Autozone (AZO) will report its fiscal fourth quarter earnings prior to the market open on Monday. The Memphis-based auto part and accessory retailer has outperformed in 2022, rising about 5% year to date, compared to declines in major equity indices.

Amid the strong performance, Wall Street remains broadly bullish on the company’s prospects. Still, Bank of America indicated it prefers its peer Advance Auto Parts (AAP) in a note released shortly before the results. Meanwhile, Beersheba Research called AZO “an attractive long-term hold” but argued that growth will “inevitably slow as inflation moderates.”

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $38.45
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $5.16B
• Earnings Insight: AutoZone has exceeded EPS estimates in 8 straight quarters, beating revenue expectations in 7 of those quarters.

Tuesday, September 20

StitchFix (SFIX)

San Francisco-based online personal styling service StitchFix (SFIX) is set to post its fiscal fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Shares of the e-commerce company have fallen over 80% in the past year and nearly 95% from their early 2021 pandemic peak. Meanwhile, in the past 90 days, EPS estimates have seen 1 downward revision while revenue estimates have been cut 8 times.

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $-0.63
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $488.79M
• Earnings Insight: StitchFix (SFIX) has beaten EPS and revenue estimates in 6 of the past 8 quarters.

Aurora Cannabis (ACB)

Canadian cannabis company Aurora Cannabis (ACB) will also post its fourth quarter earnings results on Tuesday after the market close. Shares of the Edmonton-based company have slid nearly 80% in the past year, marking a wide 52-week range between $1.21 and $8.69. Losses from the stock’s 2018 peak are even more pronounced.

Still, recent data from Cantor indicated Canadian non-medical cannabis sales are still on the rise. Elsewhere, Aurora announced that it acquired a controlling stake in Bevo Agtech during the quarter.

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $-0.14
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $39.76M
• Earnings Insight: Aurora Cannabis (ACB) has beaten EPS estimates just once in the past two years, exceeding revenue expectations in just 3 of the past 8 reports.

Wednesday, September 21

General Mills (GIS)

General Mills (GIS), the Minnesota-based manufacturer and marketer of brands like Betty Crocker, Häagen-Dazs and Cheerios, is set to post its earnings results prior to the market open on Wednesday. A defensive stock at a time when investors are flocking into that segment, GIS has sported a double-digit gain in 2022 despite weakness in the broader market indices.

Indeed, after its June earnings report, the typically stable stock shot up more than 6% as pricing power assuaged inflationary concerns. Meanwhile, analyst Bela Lakos doesn’t think the company’s results will be significantly impacted by consumer sentiment. At the same time, inflation remains elevated in foodstuffs, as reflected in the recent CPI report.

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $1.00
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $4.71B
• Earnings Insight: General Mills has exceeded EPS estimates in 6 of the past 8 quarters, posting better-than-expected revenue in 7 of those reports.

Lennar (LEN)

Lennar (LEN) is due to report its fiscal third quarter earnings report prior to the market open on Wednesday. The company is set to post results alongside peer KB Home (KBH) in a key day for homebuilder earnings.

In the week prior to the earnings reports, mortgage rates jumped to their highest level since 2008. Amid the rising rates, shares have declined sharply in 2022 as analysts increasingly advised moving to the sidelines in a tough economic climate. For example, both Wedbush and Bank of America downgraded Lennar (LEN) to Hold-equivalent ratings in the month prior to the results.

"Homebuilder earnings and industry data indicate a sharp demand deceleration in June/July as a result of worsening affordability and lower consumer confidence," Bank of America analyst Rafe Jadrosich wrote in a note to clients in late August.

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $4.87
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $9.10B
• Earnings Insight: Lennar Corporation (LEN) has exceeded EPS estimates in 8 consecutive quarters, besting revenue expectations in 6 of those reports.

Also reporting: KB Home (KBH), H.B. Fuller Company (FUL), and RLX Technology (RLX)

Thursday, September 22

FedEx Corporation (FDX)

FedEx (FDX) is prepared to post its first quarter earnings on Thursday after the bell. Shares of the Memphis-based transportation business have seen a substantial decline in the month ahead of earnings, reversing strong gains achieved across much of the summer. The latest slide took place on Friday, when the company warned of weak results amid a tough macroeconomic situation.

Even ahead of FDX’s preannouncement, analysts from Citi, Morgan Stanley, and Evercore ISI each advised clients to take a cautious stance towards FedEx ahead of its quarterly report. Following the warning, analyst J.G. Collins called FDX and other transport stocks “canaries in the coal mine” of a weakening economy.

Earnings Insight: FedEx (FDX) had beaten EPS estimates in 5 of the past 8 quarters, exceeding revenue expectations in 7 of those quarters prior to the preliminary announcement.

Costco Wholesale (COST)

Costco Wholesale (COST) is due to report its fiscal fourth quarter earnings results after the bell on Thursday. The stock has been an outperformer in the past year, with about a 9% return over a 12-month period compared to a 13% decline in the S&P 500.

Analysts also remain bullish on the stock broadly, with 23 of 33 analysts surveyed by Seeking Alpha rating the stock at Buy or Strong Buy. In a sign for the general sector, Walmart’s (WMT) Sam’s Club, one of Costco’s key competitors, recently raised its membership fee for the first time in nearly a decade.

• Consensus EPS Estimates: $4.17
• Consensus Revenue Estimates: $71.98B
• Earnings Insight: Costco has exceeded EPS expectations in 7 of the past 8 quarters, rising above revenue expectations in each of those reports.

Also reporting: Accenture (ACN), Darden Restaurants (DRI), and Manchester United (MANU)

Friday, September 23

Carnival Corporation (CCL) is among the companies estimated to report earnings on Friday. However, the cruise line has yet to confirm its earnings report officially.