Lumen 4Q22 schedule, Vuzix OEM business and more ?4

09:59 10-Jan-23

Lumen has scheduled its fourth quarter report for the evening of February 7th.  The average of 10 analyst estimates comes to 19 cents of EPS from $3.8b of revenue, declining to $3.7b this quarter.  As already communicated, I don't necessarily expect good results and think management quality has taken a big step backwards.  However, I've speculated that simply filing financials and having them flow through to brokerages my highlight some of the value in LUMN, thereby having a gradual positive effect.

Only a little better on the management spectrum is Vuzix, which provided some color (but still no numbers) on its fledgling OEM business in today's press release.  I think the defense contracts are negative for eMagin, and note the anecdotal evidence of manufacturing being domesticated:

A US-based leader in technologically advanced and intelligent solutions for the global aerospace and defense industry has given Vuzix an engineering services contract to support the development of a lightweight heads-up display (HUD) replacement for technologies previously supplied by a China-based company. This firm, a top 10 defense contractor, is the incumbent supplier for several existing programs and has turned to Vuzix as a US-based manufacturer of waveguide and display technologies.

I do think Vuzix has positioned itself well to benefit from this trend, especially while North American trade negotiations drag on.  However, I'm still not a buyer of VUZI stock as it participates in the new year rebound.  With no major economic data tomorrow, I expect that rebound to continue tentatively now that Powell's speech is out of the way and clear of bombshells.  It can then possibly gain momentum if Thursday's CPI numbers can also avoid negative surprises.