Patterson Companies (PDCO) Q3 Earnings: What's in Store?
Patterson Companies, Inc. PDCO is set to announce third-quarter fiscal 2016 earnings on Feb 25. Last quarter, the company reported earnings of 56 cents per share which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a couple of cents. We note that the company has posted an average negative surprise of 5.45% over the last four quarters.
Let’s find out how things are shaping up for this quarter.
Factors at Play
We believe Patterson Companies’ quarterly results will be benefited by increased sales at the Animal Health and Dental segment. The company is especially positive about the increased technology sales at the Dental segment. Stability in consumables and introduction of new equipment such as TENEO and INTEGO are expected to drive growth in the Dental Segment.
Further, a stable North American market, including the impact of an extra week in fiscal 2016, has raised expectations. However, foreign exchange volatility can affect the company’s sales performance.
For fiscal 2016, Patterson Companies forecasts adjusted earnings in the range of $2.40–$2.50 per share.
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Patterson Companies is likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: Patterson Companies has a Zacks ESP of 0.00%. That is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 67 cents.
Zacks Rank: Patterson has a Zacks Rank #2 which increases the predictive power of ESP; but when combined with a 0.00% ESP, it makes surprise prediction difficult.
Meanwhile, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:
The Cooper Corporation Inc. COO, with earnings ESP of +2.53% and a Zacks Rank #2.
ZELTIQ Aesthetics, Inc. ZLTQ, with earnings ESP of +10.00% and a Zacks Rank #2.
PTC Therapeutics, Inc. PTCT with earnings ESP of +7.87% and a Zacks Rank #2.
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PATTERSON COS (PDCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
COOPER COS (COO): Free Stock Analysis Report
PTC THERAPEUTIC (PTCT): Free Stock Analysis Report
ZELTIQ AESTHETC (ZLTQ): Free Stock Analysis Report
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