Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (NASDAQ:FOXA) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 results on Aug 9. In the previous quarter, the company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a margin of 14.9%.
Notably, the company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 16% in the trailing four quarters. Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.
What to Expect?
The question lingering in investors’ minds now is whether Twenty-First Century Fox will be able to post positive earnings surprise in the quarter to be reported. The current Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter under review is 34 cents, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of over 24%. We note that the Zacks Consensus Estimate has decreased by a couple of cents witnessed in the past 30 days. Analysts polled by Zacks expect revenues of $6,734 million compared with $6,646 million reported in the prior-year quarter.
Factors Influencing This Quarter
Robust affiliate fees at the company’s broadcast and cable-television divisions are anticipated to drive the revenues higher. In the third quarter, Cable Network Programming revenues increased 2.1% on the back of robust affiliate revenues growth, after increasing 10% and 7.1% in the first and second quarters of fiscal 2017, respectively. Affiliate fees are the dominant source of revenue for the Cable Network segment and a major contributor to total revenue.
However, increase in cost at Cable Network Programming has been worrying investors. In the first nine months of fiscal 2017, Cable Network Programming costs have increased 6.3% to $7,687 million. The rise in expenses was mostly due to elevated sports programming costs. We believe that an increase in expenses, due to higher sports programming costs may hurt the margins and affect the bottom line in the coming quarters.
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Quote
What Does the Zacks Model Unveil?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Twenty-First Century Fox is likely to beat earnings estimates this quarter. This 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. You may uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Twenty-First Century Fox has an Earnings ESP of -2.94% as the Most Accurate estimate is 33 cents, while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged higher at 34 cents. Although, the company’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP, we need to have a positive ESP to be confident about an earnings surprise.
Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates
Here are some companies you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) currently has an ESP of +1.09% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ:DISH) has an ESP of +4.84% and has a Zacks Rank #3.
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI) has an ESP of +12.77% and carries a Zacks Rank #3.
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Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NXST): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. (FOXA): Free Stock Analysis Report
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