Analysts Stocks

      Daily Update - April 25, 2023

      Selected stock price target highlights of the day:

      By: Matthew Otto

      Canadian National Railway

      Has reported its financial and operating results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. The company achieved a record first-quarter revenue of C$4,313 million, an increase of C$605 million, or 16% compared to the same period in 2022.

      Its first quarter operating income was C$1,662 million, an increase of C$435 million, or 35%, and its operating ratio, defined as operating expenses as a percentage of revenues, improved by 5.4-points to 61.5%. The company also reported an injury frequency rate of 1.02 and an accident rate of 1.64, both showing improvements compared to the same period last year.

      CN’s CEO, Tracy Robinson, stated that the company is confident in its long-term growth despite current economic uncertainty and that its updated guidance reflects the strength of its scheduled operating model and its ability to drive strong operational results.

      In light of the company’s first quarter results, CN is now expecting to deliver adjusted diluted EPS growth in the mid single digits over 2022. The company’s first quarter results were mainly driven by higher fuel surcharge revenue, higher export volumes of Canadian grain, freight rate increases, and the positive translation impact of a weaker Canadian dollar.

      Wall Street Action

      • Susquehanna analyst Bascome Majors maintains a Neutral rating and raises the price target from $114 to $116.
      • Wells Fargo analyst Allison Poliniak keeps an Equal-Weight rating and raises her price target from $115 to $125.
      • Credit Suisse analyst Ariel Rosa reiterates a Neutral rating and raises his price target from $126 to $133.
      • Barclays analyst Tracy Benguigui sustains an Equal-Weight rating and raises his price target from $126 to $130.
      • Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell sets his price target to $129.
      • Stephens analyst Justin Long lifts his price target to $124.
      • Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan lowers his price target to $115.

      All price target posted by any analyst on CNI in 2023 were above the stock price

      Tenable

      Announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023. The company added 379 new enterprise platform customers and 24 net new six-figure customers, and reported a revenue of $188.8 million, up 18% year-over-year. Its calculated current billings were $176.8 million, up 13% year-over-year, and its net cash provided by operating activities was $38.7 million, with free cash flow of $44.2 million.

      For the second quarter of 2023, Tenable expects revenue in the range of $189.0 million to $191.0 million, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share in the range of $0.12 to $0.13.

      For the year ending December 31, 2023, the company expects current billings in the range of $875.0 million to $885.0 million and revenue in the range of $775.0 million to $785.0 million.

      Wall Street Action

      • Piper Sandler’s Rob Owens upholds an Overweight rating while reducing the price target from $55 to $50.
      • DA Davidson’s Rudy Kessinger maintains a Buy rating while dropping the price target from $54 to $48.
      • Stifel’s Brad Reback also maintains a Buy rating but reduces the price target from $53 to $47.
      • Morgan Stanley’s Hamza Fodderwala maintains an Equal-Weight rating but lowers the price target from $48 to $44.
      • Wedbush’s Daniel Ives still recommends Outperform but reduces the price target from $51 to $45.
      • Needham’s Mike Cikos maintains a Buy rating while lowering the price target from $51 to $48.
      • Canaccord Genuity’s Michael Walkley maintains a Buy rating while lowering the price target from $56 to $53.
      • Wells Fargo’s Andrew Nowinski keeps an Overweight rating but reduces the price target from $58 to $52.
      • Barclays’ Saket Kalia still recommends Overweight but reduces the price target from $50 to $44.

      It’s worth noting that Tenable Holdings has experienced a decline in its market share since reaching a peak value of $62 in April 2022, losing approximately a third of its value since then. While analysts have previously lowered their price targets, this marks the first time that they have lowered them to levels in line with the current stock price, rather than above it.

      PepsiCo

      Reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for Q1 2023, exceedeing analyst estimates in its Q1 earnings report, reporting a non-GAAP EPS of $1.50, beating the expected $1.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was also higher than expected, coming in at $17.85 billion compared to the estimated $17.24 billion.

      PepsiCo also announced an increase in its FY core EPS guidance, with a projected EPS of $7.27, up from $7.20 and higher than the consensus estimate of $7.26

      Despite concerns about consumers becoming more budget-conscious, PepsiCo’s CFO noted that “elasticities are holding up quite well across most of the globe.”

      Wall Street Action

      • Wedbush analyst Gerald Pascarelli reiterates PepsiCo with an Outperform and a $190 price target, a continuation of his trend this year when the Pepsi stock was ten percent lower.

      The Coca-Cola Company

      Reported its Q1 2023 results, which showed a 3% growth in global unit case volume, 5% growth in net revenues, and 12% growth in organic revenues (non-GAAP). However, the operating income declined by 1%, and the comparable currency-neutral operating income (non-GAAP) grew by 15%.

      The company’s operating margin was 30.7%, compared to 32.5% in the prior year, and the comparable operating margin (non-GAAP) was 31.8%, compared to 31.4% in the prior year. The EPS grew by 12% to $0.72, and comparable EPS (non-GAAP) grew by 5% to $0.68.

      The Coca-Cola Company’s 2023 outlook includes no changes to its previously announced guidance for organic revenue growth (non-GAAP) of 7% to 8%, a 2% to 3% currency headwind for comparable net revenues (non-GAAP), mid-single digit percentage headwind on comparable cost of goods sold (non-GAAP)

      Wall Street Action

      • Deutsche Bank analyst Steve Powers maintains a Hold rating but raises the price target from $61 to $63. Powers is the only analyst with a price target below $70 on the stock.
      • Evercore ISI Group analyst Robert Ottenstein keeps a rating of Outperform and increases the price target from $68 to $70.
      • RBC Capital analyst Nik Modi also reiterates an Outperform rating and a price target of $69.
      • Citigroup analyst Filippo Falorni holds a Buy rating and raises the price target from $71 to $74.
      • UBS analyst Peter Grom raised Coca-Cola’s price target to $74.
      •  Atlantic Equities analyst Edward Lewis raised the target to $71.