Earnings Preview: FedEx, General Mills, And Bed Bath & Beyond

Several companies will be reporting earnings on Wednesday December 19th. We provide an earnings preview for the following companies reporting today: FedEx, General Mills, Bed Bath & Beyond:

FedEx Corporation (FDX)

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), is scheduled to release its second quarter earnings for FY13 before the market opens on Wednesday, December 19.

Wall Street analysts expect FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) to report revenue of $10.84 billion and $1.41 earnings per share based on data from FactSet. Last September, the company reported a net income of $459 million or $1.45 per diluted share. The company’s revenue came in at $10.79 billion, three percent higher when compared with the same period a year ago; the strong performance was mostly due to strong FedEx ground servies. However, the demand for FedEx Express priority services was weak.

According to the company, the weak global economic conditions impacted first quarter results, which came in below company guidance. FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) projected its earnings for the second quarter to be around $1.30 to $1.45 per diluted share.

FedEx expects to handle 280 million shipments during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Last October, the company announced the implementation of  several programs to improve its profitability by $1.7 billion within the next three years, mostly through cost reductions. Last month, FedEx said it would increase its shipping rates for FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery starting January 7 next year.

Analysts are concerned that the ongoing global economic uncertainties such as the debt crisis in the European region, and the looming fiscal cliff in the United States could weaken the financial performance of FedEx.

For the three months ended 31 August 2012, FedEx Corporation revenues increased 3% to $10.79B. Net income decreased 1% to $459M. Revenues reflect FedEx Ground segment increase of 8% to $2.46B, FedEx Freight segment increase of 5% to $1.4B, FedEx Express segment increase of 1% to $6.63B. Net income was offset by FedEx Express segment income decrease of 28% to $207M. Dividend per share increased from $0.13 to $0.14.

Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY)

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) is expected to report its financial performance for the third quarter of the current fiscal year after trading hours tomorrow. Analysts predict the company to post $1.02 earnings per share on $2.71 billion in revenue.

During the second quarter, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) reported $0.98 earnings per share, 5.4 percent higher than $0.93 of EPS reported during the same period a year earlier. The company’s revenue was $2.59 billion, 12.1 percent higher than the $2.31 billion in revenue the company brought in, in q2 2011.

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) is expected to report $0.99 to $1.04 net diluted earnings per share and a net sales growth of 15% to 18% for 3Q FY12.

For the 26 weeks ended 25 August 2012, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. revenues increased 9% to $4.81B. Net income increased 5% to $431.2M. Revenues reflect Comparable Store Sales (Value) – Retail increase of 6% to $4.52B, Retail Sales increase of 9% to $4.81B. Net income was partially offset by Merchandise Margins, Total -% decrease of 2% to 39.9%. Basic Earnings per Share excluding Extraordinary Items increased from $1.68 to $1.89.

General Mills

General Mills, Inc (NYSE:GIS) is scheduled to release its earnings for the second quarter of FY13 around 8:30 am on Wednesday, December 19.

Analysts estimate that the company would report $0.79 earnings per share, a 3.9 percent increase from ithe same period last year. They also expect revenue to climb by 5.5 percent to $4.88 billion in the second quarter.

During the previous quarter, the company posted $0.82 diluted earnings per share and $4.05 billion revenue. Over the past eight quarters, General Mills, Inc (NYSE:GIS) reported positive financial performance. The company recorded an average growth rate of 2.3 percent year-over-year.

Last week, the board of directors of the company approved a quarterly dividend payment of $0.33 per share.

For the 13 weeks ended 26 August 2012, General Mills, Inc. revenues increased 5% to $4.05B. Net income increased 35% to $548.9M. Revenues reflect International segment increase of 27% to $1.09B. Net income benefited from Unallocated Corporate Items segment income totaling $11.5M vs. loss of $88.4M, International segment income increase of 56% to $125.8M, Bakeries and Foodservice segment income increase of 10% to $67.7M.