Agilent (A) Gears Up For Q1 Earnings: What's In The Cards?

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) is set to report fiscal first-quarter 2020 results on Feb 17. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 3.5%.

The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three out of the trailing four quarters, with the average positive earnings surprise being 2.9%.

Trend in Estimate Revision

For the fiscal first quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has remained stable at 81 cents per share over the past 30 days. This indicates growth of 6.6% from the year-ago reported figure.

Notably, the consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $1.35 billion, implying growth of 5.5% from the year-ago reported figure.

Let’s see how things have shaped up for this announcement.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Agilent Technologies, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Agilent Technologies, Inc. Quote

Strength in ACG Segment to Drive Revenues

Revenues are expected to have increased in the to-be-reported quarter, driven by strength in services and consumables across all geographical regions served.

Also, the company’s recent BioTek acquisition is expected to have expanded the Cell Analysis business and aided top-line growth.

Strength in DGG & LSAG

The company expects strong revenues from Diagnostics and Genomics Group (DGG) in the to-be-reported quarter, driven by growth in pharma, as well as strength in genomics.

Agilent expanded its share in next-gen sequencing, which is expected to have driven the top line in the pathology business. Also, growth of the oligo API business should have contributed to top-line growth in the quarter.

Also, the Life Sciences & Applied Markets Group (LSAG) segment is likely to have generated solid revenues in the quarter to be reported, driven by strong performances of chemical and energy, as well as pharma and environmental markets.

The company’s focus on aligning investments toward more attractive growth avenues and innovative product launches is expected to have aided its performance.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Agilent this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Earnings ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Agilent has a Zacks Rank #2.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are a few stocks worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to deliver an earnings beat in the upcoming releases.

Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVN) has an Earnings ESP of +1.02% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Splunk Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLK) has an Earnings ESP of +1.57% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (NYSE:A) has an Earnings ESP of +8.12% and a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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