Earnings should rebound in 2024

Article Excerpt

HONDA MOTOR CO. LTD. ADRs $31 is a buy. The Japanese automaker (New York symbol HMC; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; ADRs outstanding: 1.7 billion; Market cap: $52.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.4; Dividend yield: 3.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.honda.com) sold 947,000 cars in its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, ended March 31, 2023. That’s down 11.8% from a year earlier due to the end of a tax reduction in China. Even so, revenue in Japanese yen improved 13.1%, while revenue in U.S. dollars fell just 0.6%, to $31.3 billion from $32.4 billion. Earnings per ADR fell 21.3%, to $0.85 from $1.08 (each American Depositary Receipt equals one common share) due to writedowns and higher warranty costs. Improving supply chains should lift Honda’s earnings in fiscal 2024 by about 36% to $4.10 per ADR, and the stock trades at just 7.6 times that forecast. The $0.94 dividend yields 3.0%. Honda is a buy. buy…