Yahoo Finance Lowe's, Papa John's earnings: What to know in markets Wednesday
A handful of big earnings announcements Wednesday will garner the attention of investors.
Ahead of the market open, home improvement giant Lowe’s (LOW) and pizza chain Papa John’s (PZZA) are scheduled to release quarterly results.
Lowe’s results come on the heels of rival Home Depot’s (HD) strong holiday quarter. Home Depot beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines during its fourth quarter. Comparable sales, a closely-watched metric, rose 5.2% during the quarter and exceeded estimates of 4.7%.
The backdrop of high U.S. home prices and warmer-than-usual winter weather likely boosted Lowe’s most recent quarter. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect the company to report adjusted earnings of 91 cents per share on $16.15 billion in revenue. Comp. sales are anticipated to have risen 3.7%.
Shares of Lowe’s are down 0.59% in 2020.
Papa John’s will also announce fourth-quarter results ahead of the opening bell. The pizza chain is expected to report earnings of 32 cents per share on $403.82 million in revenue, according to Bloomberg estimates. Papa John’s fourth quarter results follow a better-than-expected third quarter, in which the company exceeded revenue estimates and same-store sales in the U.S. rose 1%, compared to consensus expectations for -0.6% decline.
Papa John’s had new leadership about halfway through the third quarter. Rob Lynch was appointed president and CEO on August 27 and succeeded Steve Ritchie. Ritchie was a long-time veteran of the company and served as CEO for an abrupt 18-month period. Lynch was an outsider and previously was the President of Arby’s before assuming the new role at Papa John’s. He also previously held leadership positions at Procter & Gamble and Taco Bell.
“Historically, management has provided detailed guidance for the upcoming full year with its 4Q earnings report,” Stifel analyst Chris O’Cull wrote in a note to clients Feb. 12. “However, the company is in the early stages of its turnaround and the new team will likely need some flexibility to execute its plan, so we would not be surprised if the guidance was fairly high level.”
Papa John’s stock has risen 7% so far in 2020, while the broader market fell 5% in the same time period. The options market is implying a 8.12% move in either direction for the stock following the announcement.
Other notable reports scheduled for Wednesday include the following: TJX Companies (TJX), Wendy’s (WEN), before market open; Square (SQ), Etsy (ETSY), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Marriott International (MAR), and Nutanix (NTNX) after market close.
—
Heidi Chung is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @heidi_chung.
More from Heidi:
Food giant Kellogg's unveils ‘Incogmeato' plant-based products
Popeyes sales surge an eye-popping 34% amid chicken sandwich craze
Coronavirus: The most vulnerable restaurant companies, according to analyst
Find live stock market quotes and the latest business and finance news
Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flipboard, LinkedIn, and reddit.
