Commodities ocean shippers Diana Shipping (DSX) and Star Bulk Carriers (SBLK) report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday. Both shipping stocks rose ahead of the results, and Diana Shipping was in a buy zone.
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The two companies report as demand for products like coal, grains and chemicals remains in flux, following concerns of food and energy shortages, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Covid lockdowns and pollution curbs on China’s economy.
Diana Shipping Earnings
Estimates: Wall Street expects Diana Shipping to earn 28 cents per share, up from a loss a year ago, according to FactSet. Revenue was expected to come in at $64.6 million, a 57% gain.
Results: Due before the open on Tuesday.
Diana Shipping stock rose 7.5% to 6.08 in the stock market today, matching the highest price since late 2015. DSX stock is now slightly extended from a 5.78 entry of a cup-with-handle base.
Based in Greece, Diana Shipping ran nearly three dozen ships as of the fourth quarter. It owns or leases those ships. Coal and iron ore, a major ingredient needed to make steel, made up around 85% of the company’s cargo shipments last year. Grains made up around 9%.
Like other shipping stocks, Diana Shipping has a strong Composite Rating, at 99. Its EPS Rating is 75.
Shipping Stocks And China, Global Demand
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has strained supplies and purchases for things like oil and wheat, pushing their prices higher. But China’s pandemic-related lockdowns — and its economy’s potential reopening — have also caused more uncertainty over its own demand for goods and the state of the world’s battered supply chains.
Snags up and down the supply chain have pushed up shipping costs. But some analysts have said the boom in container-shipping stocks last year was greater than the one for bulk commodities transporters. As a result, they say, the former tried to expand more than the latter, and is thus more vulnerable to overcapacity if the economy turns south.
When Diana Shipping reported fourth-quarter results in February, management said “the war in Ukraine may have a broad-based negative impact on the dry bulk market with ports in the Black Sea halting operations for an undetermined period of time.”
Diana also said at that time that China’s “depressed” real estate market had curtailed growth prospects. And it noted a dip in the nation’s steel production last year, amid efforts to cut pollution, even as production rose in other nations.
Citing research from shipping services company Clarksons, Diana Shipping said China’s iron ore exports were likely to “remain under pressure” this year.
Globally, Clarksons had forecast 2.2% growth this year for total dry-bulk trade, Star Bulk said on its own earnings call in February. Dry bulk refers to any material — like grain or coal — that can be stored or shipped in bulk form.
Star Bulk Earnings
Estimates: Wall Street expects Star Bulk to earn $1.47 per share, a 308% jump, on revenue of $288 million, an 85% gain.
Results: Due after the close.
Star Bulk stock closed up 4.9% to 33.60 on Monday, hitting the highest since the end of 2014. Share shave a 98 Composite Rating and a 99 EPS Rating.
Star Bulk operates a fleet of more than 120 ships. It is also based in Greece.
When Star Bulk reported its last round of earnings in February, it cited a number of factors that weighed on dry-bulk trade earlier this year. Among them: Indonesia’s coal export ban in January, the Winter Olympics in China and harsh weather in Brazil.
However, the company also said rising commodity prices had led producers to crank up production and prompt others to secure dwindling global supplies ahead of time.
“Record high commodity prices are providing a strong incentive to producers of dry bulk cargoes to expand output and exports during the next few years whilst just-in-time stocks may be replenishing on a just-in-case basis,” CEO Petros Pappas said in February.
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Source: https://www.investors.com/news/shipping-stocks-star-bulk-diana-shipping-report-amid-shortages-china-curbs/?src=A00220&yptr=yahoo