Fitbit 2Q 2017 earnings and Square 2Q 2017 earnings are due after closing bell tomorrow. A day ahead of those reports, one company’s stock was rising and the other was falling, with one being down by about the same percentage as the other was up. Here’s what to expect from Fitbit’s and Square’s second-quarter earnings reports.
Fitbit 2Q 2017 earnings
Fitbit 2Q 2017 earnings are expected to be in the red at losses of 15 cents per share on $341.2 million in sales. Analysts don’t have many good things about the wearables maker these days.
Morgan Stanley analysts feel the company needs to release more software before it will be able to make a firm foothold for itself in the market. Katy Huberty, who also covers Apple, trimmed her price target on Fitbit stock from $7 to $6.50 per share and reiterated her Equal-weight rating in a note to investors on Monday.
Morgan Stanley analysts emphasized Fitbit’s need of better software, especially as the company prepares to release its own smartwatch to compete with the Apple Watch. Interestingly, the Apple Watch just took the title of top wearables seller earlier this year, while Fitbit dropped to third place.
The Morgan Stanley team notes that years ago, Fitbit had an edge because of the sensors it included in its fitness wearables, but they believe that sensors are no longer enough. The reason is because sensor technology is no longer improving in leaps and bounds, so without huge improvements in hardware, software improvements should pick up the slack and make it seem like the company’s products are getting better and better.
A day before Fitbit 2Q 2017 earnings, the company’s stock slumped by more than 1%, falling as low as $5.02 during regular trading hours on Tuesday.
Square 2Q 2017 earnings
According to estimates, Square 2Q 2017 earnings are expected to come in at a loss of 5 cents per share on $229 million in revenue. The company projected net losses of 9 cents to 7 cents per share and adjusted earnings of 3 cents to 5 cents per share. Square also guided for $223 million to $226 million in adjusted revenue, $532 million to $538 million in net revenue, and $25 million to $28 million in adjusted EBITDA.
In a note to investors on Monday, KeyBanc analyst Josh Beck predicted a “robust beat and raise” from Square after analysis of his firm’s proprietary credit card database. He said the data points bode well for the company’s future, although he noted that transaction profit yields, subscription and services, and investments are harder to forecast. Beck expects Square management to boost its sales outlook for the full year to a new range of $910 million to $930 million and EBITDA to a new range of $122 million to $132 million.
The day before Square 2Q 2017 earnings, the company’s stock rose by more than 1% to as high as $26.90 during regular trading hours on Tuesday.
