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Wall Street analysts tend to accentuate the positive — after all, their broker colleagues have stocks to sell. Indeed, there currently is not a single company within the S&P 500 with majority “sell” or equivalent ratings among analysts polled by FactSet, and that’s hardly unusual.
Of course, analysts will lower their revenue and earnings estimates based on bad quarters, negative guidance from companies, legal challenges as well as sales and supply disruptions from world events, such as the coronavirus.
Severe estimate cuts may be particularly alarming now, because stock valuations have risen so much. The weighted aggregate forward price-to-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 SPX, -0.77% has increased to 19 from 16.3 over the past 12 months, according to FactSet.
Still, focusing on negative events can provide insight into industry developments and may even highlight investment opportunities if you can become confident, through your own research, that a company is likely to improve from its current distress.
So here are lists of companies whose consensus revenue or earnings estimates for this calendar year have been cut the most since the end of 2019.
Largest sales estimate cuts
Here are the 10 S&P 500 companies with the largest declines in consensus 2020 revenue estimates since the end of 2019:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Decline in sales estimate from Dec. 31 to Feb. 20 | Change in EPS estimate from Dec 31 to Feb. 20 |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.03% | Aerospace & Defense | -20.0% | -70.1% |
| Global Payments Inc. | GPN, -1.28% | Data Processing Services | -16.1% | 0.3% |
| Danaher Corp. | DHR, +0.58% | Medical Specialties | -13.7% | -4.7% |
| Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | COG, -3.13% | Integrated Oil | -12.2% | -31.4% |
| eBay Inc. | EBAY, -0.54% | Other Consumer Services | -11.4% | 4.0% |
| Wynn Resorts Ltd. | WYNN, -2.05% | Casinos/Gaming | -10.4% | -50.3% |
| Abiomed Inc. | ABMD, -0.92% | Medical Specialties | -7.5% | -6.3% |
| CF Industries Holdings Inc. | CF, +0.84% | Chemicals: Agricultural | -7.2% | -25.1% |
| Under Armour Inc. Class A | UAA, -2.12% | Apparel/Footwear | -7.0% | -69.9% |
| Hologic Inc. | HOLX, -0.02% | Medical Specialties | -6.9% | 0.5% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||
You can click the tickers for more about each company.
Here’s a summary of current analyst opinion for these companies, which includes changes in consensus price targets:
| Company | Ticker | share ‘buy’ ratings | Share neutral ratings | Share ‘sell’ ratings | Closing price – Feb. 20 | Cons. price target | Implied 12-month upside potential | Change in price target since Dec. 31 |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.03% | 31% | 65% | 4% | $336.28 | $352.05 | 5% | -9% |
| Global Payments Inc. | GPN, -1.28% | 81% | 16% | 3% | $208.47 | $223.43 | 7% | 14% |
| Danaher Corp. | DHR, +0.58% | 79% | 16% | 5% | $160.26 | $175.76 | 10% | 9% |
| Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | COG, -3.13% | 52% | 41% | 7% | $15.35 | $19.33 | 26% | -11% |
| eBay Inc. | EBAY, -0.54% | 27% | 64% | 9% | $37.69 | $39.20 | 4% | -2% |
| Wynn Resorts Ltd. | WYNN, -2.05% | 67% | 33% | 0% | $133.33 | $149.88 | 12% | 10% |
| Abiomed Inc. | ABMD, -0.92% | 56% | 33% | 11% | $168.08 | $216.00 | 29% | -5% |
| CF Industries Holdings Inc. | CF, +0.84% | 47% | 47% | 6% | $39.48 | $47.78 | 21% | -9% |
| Under Armour Inc. Class A | UAA, -2.12% | 21% | 64% | 15% | $16.50 | $17.96 | 9% | -14% |
| Hologic Inc. | HOLX, -0.02% | 47% | 42% | 11% | $52.70 | $56.89 | 8% | 5% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||||
It’s interesting to see that half of these companies have majority “buy” or equivalent ratings from the same analysts that cut their sales estimates so severely.
Here’s a different list showing the 10 S&P 500 companies with the largest decreases in consensus 2020 earnings-per-share estimates since the end of 2019:
| Company | Ticker | Industry | Cons. EPS estimate – Feb. 20 | Cons. EPS estimate – Dec. 31 | Decline in EPS estimate from Dec. 31 to Feb. 20 | Change in sales estimate from Dec. 31 to Feb. 20 |
| Hess Corp. | HES, -0.31% | Integrated Oil | -$0.26 | $0.29 | N/A | 2.6% |
| Apache Corp. | APA, -1.89% | Integrated Oil | -$0.01 | $0.04 | N/A | 0.0% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.03% | Aerospace & Defense | $5.43 | $18.20 | -70.1% | -20.0% |
| Under Armour Inc. Class A | UAA, -2.12% | Apparel/Footwear | $0.14 | $0.48 | -69.9% | -7.0% |
| Wynn Resorts Ltd. | WYNN, -2.05% | Casinos/Gaming | $2.89 | $5.81 | -50.3% | -10.4% |
| Mosaic Co. | MOS, +1.89% | Chemicals: Agricultural | $0.68 | $1.27 | -46.7% | -5.7% |
| MGM Resorts International | MGM, -1.64% | Casinos/Gaming | $0.86 | $1.42 | -39.3% | -4.8% |
| UDR Inc. | UDR, +0.35% | Real-estate investment Trusts | $0.22 | $0.34 | -34.9% | 2.4% |
| Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | COG, -3.13% | Integrated Oil | $0.89 | $1.30 | -31.4% | -12.2% |
| IPG Photonics Corp. | IPGP, -2.26% | Semiconductors | $3.47 | $4.86 | -28.5% | -6.3% |
| Source: FactSet | ||||||
Here’s a summary of current analyst opinion for the group, which includes changes in consensus price targets:
| Company | Ticker | share ‘buy’ ratings | Share neutral ratings | Share ‘sell’ ratings | Closing price – Feb. 20 | Cons. price target | Implied 12-month upside potential |
| Hess Corp. | HES, -0.31% | 42% | 58% | 0% | $64.72 | $73.70 | 14% |
| Apache Corp. | APA, -1.89% | 29% | 65% | 6% | $28.58 | $31.34 | 10% |
| Boeing Co. | BA, -1.03% | 31% | 65% | 4% | $336.28 | $352.05 | 5% |
| Under Armour Inc. Class A | UAA, -2.12% | 21% | 64% | 15% | $16.50 | $17.96 | 9% |
| Wynn Resorts Ltd. | WYNN, -2.05% | 67% | 33% | 0% | $133.33 | $149.88 | 12% |
| Mosaic Co. | MOS, +1.89% | 58% | 37% | 5% | $18.47 | $24.78 | 34% |
| MGM Resorts International | MGM, -1.64% | 53% | 42% | 5% | $32.34 | $35.88 | 11% |
| UDR Inc. | UDR, +0.35% | 33% | 62% | 5% | $50.73 | $51.00 | 1% |
| Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | COG, -3.13% | 52% | 41% | 7% | $15.35 | $19.33 | 26% |
| IPG Photonics Corp. | IPGP, -2.26% | 31% | 69% | 0% | $140.87 | $158.23 | 12% |
| Source: FactSet | |||||||
Now read: Wall Street has boosted 2020 estimates for these S&P 500 companies the most
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