Factors Setting The Tone For Dillard's (DDS) In Q1 Earnings

Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) is expected to release its first-quarter fiscal 2018 results on May 10. A glance at the company’s earnings trend shows that it has outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters. However, this leading departmental store retailer delivered an average negative earnings surprise of 49.6% in the last four quarters.

Also, the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.73 for the first quarter remained stable over the past 30 days but reflects a 28.8% improvement on a year-over-year basis.

Let’s see how things are shaping up ahead of the upcoming release.

Factors at Play

Dillard’s looks appeasing on the back of its strategic initiatives that aided the company’s performance in the last reported quarter. Further, the company’s constant efforts to capitalize on growth opportunities in its brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce business remain encouraging. Dillard’s also continues to gain from its niche market position, offering a broad array of merchandise in its stores, featuring products from both national and exclusive brands.

We expect the company’s top and bottom line to gain from its focus on increasing productivity at existing stores, developing a leading omni-channel platform and enhancing domestic operations. Apparently, analysts polled by Zacks project revenues of $1.46 billion, up 0.3% from the prior-year quarter. Additionally, Dillard’s constant shareholder-friendly moves are impressive.

These laudable efforts are well-reflected in the company’s share price movement. In a year’s time, Dillard’s shares have rallied 28.4%, faring better than the industry’s gain of 22.5%.

However, persistence of challenging trends in the apparel space due to changing customer preferences remains a hurdle. Also, Dillard’s operates in the highly competitive retail merchandise industry, which might dent the company’s profitability.

Zacks Model

Our proven model does not show that Dillard’s 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 can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Dillard’s has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% as both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $2.73. Although, the company’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of earnings beat but Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult.

Stocks With Favorable Combination

Here are some companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) has an Earnings ESP of +8.97% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) has an Earnings ESP of +0.69% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) has an Earnings ESP of +5.30% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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