Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOG) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2017 results, before the market opens on Apr 13. In the last quarter, the company’s earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Apogee beat estimates in three out of the trailing four quarters, with an average positive earnings surprise of 13.24%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Key Factors
Apogee remains focused on achieving top-line growth on the back of product launches, expansion in both domestic and international markets, along with entry into new architectural markets. In line with this, Apogee acquired Sotawall Limited in Dec 2016. The acquisition will add approximately $15 million to the fiscal fourth-quarter revenues at a break-even operating margin on account of purchase accounting costs.
Further, the Sotawall acquisition is anticipated to add roughly $75–$100 million to the fiscal fourth-quarter framing segment backlog of the Architectural Framing Systems. Thus, the fiscal fourth-quarter services segment backlog will increase significantly from the prior-quarter level.
Apogee Enterprises, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Apogee Enterprises, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Apogee Enterprises, Inc. Quote
Apogee’s focus on productivity improvement, cost control, and improvements in volume, mix, project margins and operating leverage will aid margin expansion. However, though unfavorable foreign currency impact remains a major headwind, growing architectural market, expansion in new geographies and product launches are anticipated to drive growth.
Share Price Performance
In the last one year, Apogee outperformed the Zacks classified Glass Products sub industry with respect to price performance. While the stock gained 33.7%, the industry recorded growth of 23.2% over the same time frame.
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Apogee is likely to beat earnings this quarter as it lacks the key components. 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. This is not the case here as you will see below:
Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for Apogee is 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate of 70 cents is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Apogee currently carries a Zacks Rank #3. Although this increases the predictive power of ESP, the company’s ESP of 0.00% makes an earnings prediction uncertain.
It should be noted that we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
Stocks to Consider
Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) has an Earnings ESP of +1.32% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
AGCO Corporation (NYSE:AGCO) has an Earnings ESP of +62.08% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Alarm.Com Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALRM) has an Earnings ESP of +40.56% and a Zacks Rank #2.
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Apogee Enterprises, Inc. (APOG): Free Stock Analysis Report
AGCO Corporation (AGCO): Free Stock Analysis Report
Alarm.com Holdings, Inc. (ALRM): Free Stock Analysis Report
Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT): Free Stock Analysis Report
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