Post-Earnings Purge: 3 Stocks to Sell After Disastrous Reports
We’re now two-thirds through fourth-quarter 2023 earnings season. With the majority of companies in the S&P 500 report latest results, 75% posted better-than-expected profits and 65% surprised to the upside with their sales. Overall, earnings are up 2.9% from a year earlier, marking the second consecutive quarter of growth among U.S. companies. Further, Q4 of last year was a strong one for Corporate America.
However, exceptions stand out. While most companies beat Wall Street forecasts with their latest prints, some companies disappointed. As a result, share prices sharply lowered. For many of these, their latest financial results have exposed deeper problems that are unlikely to be resolved in the near-term.
Let’s examine three stocks to sell after their latest, less-than-stellar reports.
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Snap (SNAP)
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You know it’s a bad print when your stock falls 30% in one day. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened to social media company Snap (NYSE:SNAP) after announcing disappointing revenue figures for the final quarter of 2023. Also, it offered up weak forward guidance.
SNAP stock is now down 36% since its Q4 earnings were made public. The company’s share price is down 87% from an all-time high reached in September 2021.
The company behind Snapchat announced Q4 2023 earnings per share (EPS) of 8 cents, which beat forecasts of 6 cents. However, revenue of $1.36 billion missed expectations pf $1.38 billion. And, average revenue per user on Snapchat came in light at $3.29 compared to the estimated $3.33. However, the most damaging news from Snap was that it expects a loss of $55 million to $95 million in the current first quarter. This is much worse than the $21.9 million analysts had anticipated.
Finally, Snap announced that it will cut 10% of its global workforce, or about 500 employees. But that news hasn’t help SNAP stock any after a disastrous earnings report.
Pinterest (PINS)
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Pinterest (NYSE:PINS) is another social media company whose stock got hammered after a poor Q4 earnings print. PINS fell 10% on news of a revenue miss and soft forward guidance.
The stock initially fell 28% but pared some of that decline after a new partnership with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG,NASDAQ:Google) was announced. Pinterest is now down 57% since peaking in February 2021.
Also, the company announced EPS of 53 cents versus the forecasted 51 cents. Unfortunately, the company’s revenue missed the mark at $981 million versus $991 million of the analysts’ consensus forecast. Looking ahead, Pinterest expects revenue of $690 million to $705 million for the current quarter, which represents annualized growth of 15% to 17%, less than analysts had wanted. Fortunately, Pinterest announced a new deal for third-party ads on Google. Otherwise, things would have been worse.
PepsiCo (PEP)
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Snack food and soft drink giant PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) reported a rare sales miss with its latest earnings. The company, whose products include Lay’s potato chips and Mountain Dew pop, said that demand weakened during Q4 2023.
PepsiCo was quick to point out that the revenue miss wasn’t due to the new crop of weight loss drugs. Specifically, they indicated that the issue was consumers seeking out cheaper generic versions of its products amid ongoing price hikes. It was the first revenue decline in nearly four years.
Whatever the cause, PEP announced EPS of $1.78 compared to $1.72 that was forecast on Wall Street. Revenue came in at $27.85 billion versus $28.40 billion that was expected among analysts. Sales declined 0.5% year over year (YOY), while analysts were expecting a 1.4% sales increase. PEP stock fell 4% immediately after its earnings were made public. Even before the Q4 print, PepsiCo’s share price was weak, having declined 6% through 12 months and trailing the market.
On the date of publication, Joel Baglole held a long position in GOOGL. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.
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