FedEx will report fiscal third-quarter results on Tuesday, March 19, after the bell. Analysts are expecting earnings per share of $3.16 on revenue of $17.7 billion. However even bulls have been lowering expectations lately, and the company’s last results, in late December, sent the stock lower on a disappointing forecast.

Looking Ahead. There are plenty of analysts who think that FedEx investors need to be patient, and Stephens’ Jack Atkins is in that camp. He reiterated an Overweight rating and $240 price target on FedEx ahead of the report, warning that he expects “another noisy quarterly result when FedEx reports,” and the company could miss consensus EPS estimates.

He blames weakness in Europe and recent management turnover, which have challenged the company’s integration of its TNT acquisition. Atkins admits that a bottom-line miss could add to the negative sentiment on the stock, but argues that there could be some positives as well, including cost reductions and reduced fiscal 2020 spending planes. And of course any progress on the U.S.-China trade deal could also boost the shares.

FedEx stock closed lower on Friday, although it’s risen 10.2% since the start of the year, just behind UPS’s 12.3% gain. https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/fedex-stock-earnings-report-could-be-turbulent-51552681307?mod=newsviewer_click