Iron Mountain (IRM) To Post Q2 Earnings: What's In Store?

Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE:IRM) is set to release second-quarter 2017 results on Jul 28 before the opening bell. Last quarter, the company posted a negative earnings surprise of 5.88%. Moreover, it has delivered negative earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters, resulting in an average negative earnings surprise of 7.56%.

Furthermore, we note that the company’s shares have decreased 15.5% in the last one year, wider than the industry’s loss of 5.3%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors to Consider

Iron Mountain’s diversified revenue base remains a positive. Additionally, a strong product portfolio and increasing market share are growth catalysts.

Notably last month, the company announced the release of a new website InfoGoTo.com, which it claims is the industry's first free resource designed to help professionals by providing them with expert advice and commentary, best practices, news items as well as opportunities for peer networking.

However, Iron Mountain’s Service revenues remain modest due to falling activity rates as stored records are becoming less active. In addition, the storage and information management services industry remains a highly fragmented industry with intensifying competition. Further, the company’s highly-leveraged balance sheet remains a concern.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Iron Mountain 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. This is not the case here as you will see below:

Zacks ESP: Iron Mountain’s Earnings ESP is +7.69%. This is because the company’s Most Accurate estimate is 56 cents while the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged lower at 52 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Iron Mountain carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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 momentum.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some stocks that, as per our model, have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (NASDAQ:CY) with an Earnings ESP of +11.11% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank Stocks here.

Kemet Corp. (NYSE:KEM) with an Earnings ESP of +11.11% and a Zacks Rank #1.

Five9, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIVN) with an Earnings ESP of +10.00% and a Zacks Rank #1.

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