U.S. Movers: Amazon, Auto Nation, Chipotle, Chevron, CBRE, Exxon Mobil, Hertz Global, Intel

Scott Peters
27 Oct, 2023
New York City

Amazon.com, Inc. soared 8.2% to $129.35 after the e-commerce giant reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results.

Revenue in the third quarter rose 13% to $143.1 billion, net income more than tripled to $9.9 billion from $2.9 billion, and diluted earnings per share surged to 94 cents from 28 cents.

The rebound in sales was partly driven by a 7% jump in Amazon's core online retail business in the quarter, following the 4% rise in the second quarter.

Amazon's cost-cutting program is showing early results; operating margin increased to 7.8%, the highest since early 2021.

AutoNation Inc. edged up a fraction to $130.54 after the auto dealer network operator reported mixed quarterly results.

Revenue in the third quarter increased 3% to $6.8 billion from $6.6 billion, net income plunged 31% to $243.7 million from $352.6 million, and diluted earnings per share declined 12% to $5.54 from $6.31.

New vehicle sales increased 11% to $3.2 billion, used vehicle sales declined 10% to $2.2 billion, and after-sales service revenue jumped 12% to $1.2 billion.

Customer financial services revenue edged up 2% to $370 million.

New vehicle days supply, the industry measure of selling days, increased to 31 days from 19 days, and used vehicle days supply rose to 33 days from 31 days.

Intel Corporation jumped 9.4% to $35.57 after the advanced semiconductor maker reported better-than-expected quarterly results, and the company also forecasted strong results in the current quarter.

Revenue in the third quarter declined 8% to $1.533 billion, marking the eighth quarterly decline in a row.

Net income in the period dropped to $297 million from $1.02 billion, and diluted earnings per share fell to 7 cents from 25 cents a year ago.

The board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share payable on December 1 to shareholders of record as of November 7.

For the fourth quarter, Intel forecast revenue between $14.6 billion and $15.6 billion and diluted earnings per share of 23 cents, based on a gross margin of 43.3%.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. jumped 7.4% to $1,940.56 after the fast food chain operator reported better-than-expected same-store sales, driven by a price increase and higher customer traffic.

Total revenue in the third quarter increased 11.3% to $2.5 billion from $2.2 billion, net income increased to $313.2 million from $257.1 million, and diluted earnings per share advanced to $11.32 from $9.20 a year ago.

Comparable restaurant sales increased by 5%, and operating margin advanced to 16.0% from 15.1% a year ago.

Food, beverage, and packaging costs in the third quarter were 29.7% of total revenue, a decrease of about 10 basis points compared to the third quarter of 2022.

The benefit from last year's menu price increases was mostly offset by inflation across several food costs, primarily beef and queso.

BJ's Restaurants Inc. jumped 8.6% to $25.61 after the company reported a stable adjusted quarterly loss and said comparable sales are returning to a normal seasonal pattern after weakness in the third quarter.

Revenue in the third quarter increased 2.3% to $318.6 million, and comparable restaurant sales edged up 0.4%.

Restaurant sales are seasonal, and sales in August and September are generally softer than other months, but the company did not experience seasonal weakness last year.

In the first three weeks of October, restaurant sales have returned to their normal pattern, and comparable sales are trending in the "low single digits," an improvement of 500 basis points from September levels.

Net loss expanded to $3.8 million from $1.6 million, and diluted loss per share increased to 16 cents from 7 cents a year ago.

During the third quarter of 2023, BJ’s repurchased and retired approximately 164,000 shares of its common stock at a cost of $4.3 million.

As of October 3, 2023, the company had approximately $17.8 million remaining on its authorized stock repurchase program.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. declined 4.6% to $8.62 after the vehicle rental company reported quarterly results.

Revenue in the third quarter increased 8% to $2.7 billion from $2.5 billion, net income jumped to $629 million from $577 million, and basic earnings per share increased to $2.02 from $1.62 a year ago.

Vehicle depreciation expense soared to $501 million from $294 million a year ago, after electric vehicle manufacturers lowered prices throughout 2023, resulting lower residual values and increasing depreciation expense and negatively impacting salvage cost. 

Average rentable vehicles increased 12% to 562,267; vehicle utilization edged up to 83% from 80%; and transaction days jumped 16% to 43.1 million from 37.1 million.

Total revenue per day declined 7% to $62.46, and total revenue per month per vehicle fell 4% to $1,596 from $1,658 a year ago.

In the quarter, the company repurchased 3 million shares for $50 million.

CBRE Group declined 0.5% to $66.15 after the commercial real estate services and investment company reported a sharp decline in earnings.

Commercial real estate capital markets remain under severe pressure, leading to a sustained slowdown in property sales and debt financing activity.

Revenue in the third quarter increased 4.5% to $7.8 billion from $7.5 billion, net income plunged 57% to $191 million from $447 million, and diluted earnings per share declined to 61 cents from $1.38 a year ago.

CBRE revised its core earnings per share to decrease by mid-30%, compared with a 20% to 25% decline anticipated in the previous quarter.

Global leasing revenue declined 16%, driven by a 21% plunge in the Americas and 11% in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, but leasing revenue in the Asia-Pacific region jumped 11%.

Commercial property sales revenue plunged by 38% as buyers and sellers paused amid sharply rising interest rates.

In the Americas, commercial real estate sales revenue plunged 41%, EMEA dropped 47%, and APAC declined 12%.

The company repurchased approximately 6.2 million shares for $516 million, averaging $83.03 per share, during the third quarter of 2023, with approximately $1.5 billion of capacity remaining under the company’s authorized stock repurchase program as of September 30.

Chevron Corporation dropped 6.7% to $144.35 after the integrated energy company reported  a sharp decline in quarterly earnings, reflecting weak energy commodities prices. 

Revenue in the third quarter declined to $54. billion from $66.6 billion, net income plunged to $6.5 billion from $11 billion, and diluted earnings per share dropped to $3.48 from $5.78 a year ago.

Third-quarter earnings were negatively impacted by lower crude oil prices and weaker margins on refined product sales.

The company's worldwide net oil-equivalent production increased 4%, and U.S. production was up 20%, driven largely by the recent acquisition of PDC Energy.

PDC Energy added 179,000 oil-equivalent per day in the quarter.

In the quarter, the company distributed to shareholders about $6.2 billion, including dividends of $2.9 billion and stock repurchases of $3.4 billion.

Additionally, the company board of directors declared a cash dividend of $1.51 per share, payable on December 11 to shareholders on record on November 17.

The company is on track to complete its recently announced $60 billion acquisition of Hess Corp. by the end of 2024.

Exxon Mobil Corp. decreased 1.9% to $105.55 after the energy giant reported a sharp decline in quarterly earnings.

Revenue in the third quarter decreased to $90.7 billion from $112.1 billion, net income dropped to $9.1 billion from $19.7 billion, and diluted earnings per share fell to $2.25 from $4.68 a year ago.

The company confirmed full-year capital expenditures near the top end of its previously announced range between $23 billion and $25 billion.

The sharp decline in earnings reflected a steep fall in crude oil and natural gas prices from a year ago.

The company declared a fourth-quarter cash dividend of 95 cents per share, an increase of 4 cents, payable on December 11 to shareholders on record on November 15.

The company has increased its annual dividend for 41 consecutive years.

The debt-to-capital ratio remained at 17%, and the net-debt-to-capital ratio was 4%, reflecting a period-end cash balance of $33.0 billion.

In the quarter, the company completed the sale of its assets and refinery in Thailand, generating $0.9 billion in cash proceeds, bringing the year-to-date divestment total to $3.1 billion.

In July, the company agreed to an all-stock transaction to acquire Denbury Inc., the owner and operator of one of the largest carbon dioxide pipeline networks, for $4.9 billion or in exchange for 45 million shares.

The transaction is expected to close in November, after the Denbury shareholder vote on October 31.