Earnings Previews: Applied Materials, Palo Alto Networks

All three major U.S. equity indexes posted gains of more than 1% Tuesday but gave some of that back in premarket trading Wednesday. Interest on 10-year Treasuries has risen above 3%, stoking worries about rising inflation and declining consumer spending. The monthly report on housing starts and new building permits showed that both slipped in April. Rising mortgage rates, record-high home prices and the high cost of building materials get the blame.

Before markets opened on Wednesday, big-box retailer Target reported a big miss on earnings, as operating margins were hit by the company’s efforts to reduce inventory and higher freight and transportation costs. The stock traded down nearly 25% in the premarket.

Lowe’s reported better-than-expected earnings but missed on revenue. The home improvement retailer reaffirmed prior guidance for its 2023 fiscal year. The stock traded down more than 4%.

Chipmaker Analog Devices beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines and raised fiscal third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) and revenue guidance. The stock traded up by about 2%.

Container shipper ZIM beat both the revenue and GAAP EPS estimate and declared a dividend payment of $2.85 per share. Shares traded up about 4%.

We already have previewed earnings reports from Cisco, Kohl’s, SQM and Trip.com that are due out after markets close Wednesday or before they open again on Thursday.

Here is a look at two tech firms set to report earnings after Thursday’s closing bell.

Applied Materials

Shares of semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) have declined by about 5.7% in the past 12 months. From their 52-week high of mid-January, the shares are down nearly 30%. The company last month released details for manufacturing 3-nanometer transistors along with advances in extreme ultraviolet technology. The former is generally called gate-all-around and is expected to drive a growing proportion of logic density improvements over the next several years.

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