General Finance (GFN) To Post Q1 Earnings: What's In Store?

General Finance Corporation (NASDAQ:GFN) will report first-quarter fiscal 2019 results on Nov 6, before the bell.

The company has a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and 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.

According to our proven model, a stock needs to have both — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) — to beat estimates. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

We don’t recommend Sell-rated stocks (Zacks Rank #4 or 5) going into the earnings announcement.

General Finance’s earnings surprise history has been impressive. The company surpassed estimates in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 108.3%.

So far this year, shares of the company have skyrocketed 91.2% against its industry’s 5.9% decline.

Q4 Highlights

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, General Finance reported break-even earnings per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 4 cents. This compares to loss of 7 cents per share incurred a year ago.

Revenues totaled $93.83 million, which exceeded the consensus mark by 12.1% and were up 27.9% year over year.

Factors Influencing Q1 Performance

General Finance’s liquid containment business in North America remains strong driven by customer demand in the oil and gas market in the Permian basin of Texas. The core portable storage business is also in good shape backed by a larger fleet, increasing average lease rates and higher fleet utilization across all product lines. North American manufacturing business is seeing robust demand in specialty tanks and other steel-related products. The Asia-Pacific region continues to witness growth in both leasing and sales revenues across most sectors.

The company remains active on the acquisition font as well, with a view to expand its geographic foot print. In the fiscal fourth quarter, General Finance’s subsidiaries — Pac-Van and Royal Wolf — acquired a portable storage container business in the Baltimore/D.C. market and New Zealand, respectively.

The company’s borrowing capacity remains strong with a net leverage ratio of under five times despite additional debt incurred for acquisition of the public non-controlling interest of Royal Wolf.

General Finance Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks that you may want to consider as our model shows these have the right combination of elements to post a positive earnings surprise:

Broadridge Financial (NYSE:BR) has an Earnings ESP of +12.23% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is scheduled to report quarterly numbers on Nov 6.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) has an Earnings ESP of +0.82% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is expected to report quarterly results on Dec 20.

Genpact (NYSE:G) has an Earnings ESP of +0.82% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company is scheduled to report quarterly numbers on Nov 6.

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