Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) Q2 Earnings: What's In Store?

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRKa) BRK.B is expected to report second-quarter 2017 results on Aug 4 after the market closes. Last quarter, the company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 15.79%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to be Considered this Quarter

Berkshire Hathaway is likely to report higher catastrophe losses in the soon-to-be-reported quarter, which in turn will render volatility to the company’s earnings. The company has also likely witnessed weaker underwriting results in the second quarter.

The property and casualty (P&C) insurer has also likely experienced a decline in operating earnings across Insurance Operations and Finance & Financial products segments.

Further, the company’s most non-insurance subsidiary, BNSF, has likely incurred higher capital expenditure in the second quarter.

However, the company’s Railroad, Utilities and Energy units have likely witnessed a rise in operating revenues. In addition, the segment has possibly displayed improved net earnings in the yet-to-be-reported quarter, driven by increased earnings from the railroad as well as energy businesses.

With respect to the surprise trend, the company delivered positive surprises in two of the last four quarters, but with an average miss of 3.12%.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Berkshire Hathaway is likely to beat 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. But that is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: Berkshire Hathaway has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%, which makes surprise prediction difficult. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $1.85. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Berkshire Hathaway carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). We caution against all Sell-rated stocks (#4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks to Consider

Some companies worth considering from the insurance industry with the right combination of elements to come up with an earnings beat this quarter are as follows:

Cigna Corporation (NYSE:CI) is set to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 4 with an Earnings ESP of +1.61% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Manulife Financial Corporation (NYSE:MFC) has an Earnings ESP of +7.32% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is set to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 9.

Sun Life Financial Inc. (TO:SLF) has an Earnings ESP of +2.70% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company is slated to report second-quarter earnings on Aug 9.

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