Will Pfizer (PFE) Miss This Earnings Season?
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) is scheduled to report fourth quarter 2013 results before the opening bell on Jan 28. Last quarter, Pfizer had posted an earnings surprise of +3.57%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors at Play
Pfizer has delivered positive earnings surprises in the last two quarters with an average beat of 3.63%.
Although revenues will continue to be impacted by genericization as well as the expiration of a few co-promotion agreements, products like, Celebrex, Xeljanz, Inlyta and Xalkori should perform well. Within the U.S., Lyrica will be a major growth driver. Newly launched Inlyta and Xalkori will be growth drivers in the oncology segment.
Meanwhile, Pfizer will look towards cost-cutting to lessen the impact of genericization.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Pfizer is likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) and a Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for Pfizer is 0.00% since the Most Accurate Estimate stands at $0.53, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Zacks #3 Rank (Hold): Pfizer’s Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) has little effect on the predictive power of ESP because the Zacks Rank #3 when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are some other companies you may want to consider as our model shows that they have the right combination of elements, i.e., a positive Zacks Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, #2 or #3.
Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) has an Earnings ESP of +9.01% and holds a Zacks Rank #2. Biogen will be reporting fourth quarter earnings on Jan 29.
Sanofi (SNY) has earnings ESP of +2.27% and holds a Zacks Rank #3. Sanofi will report fourth quarter earnings on Feb 6.
Actavis plc (ACT) has an Earnings ESP of +0.33% and holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Actavis will be reporting fourth quarter earnings on Feb 20.
Read the Full Research Report on PFE
Read the Full Research Report on ACT
Read the Full Research Report on SNY
Read the Full Research Report on BIIB
Zacks Investment Research
