PCTEL (PCTI) To Report Q4 Earnings: What's In The Offing?

PCTEL, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCTI) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2019 results on Mar 5, after the closing bell. In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive earnings surprise of 16.7%, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2 cents. Notably, PCTEL topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in the trailing four quarters, the beat being 150.6%, on average.

The Bloomingdale, IL-based company is expected to have recorded higher aggregate revenues on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter, primarily driven by 5G scanning receiver business. It is well positioned to benefit from the number of industrial IoT applications together with robust market for its antenna solutions.

Factors at Play

During the fourth quarter, PCTEL announced new testing capabilities to support 4G/5G Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) and accelerate 5G New Radio rollouts. DSS testing is available on new and existing HBflex and IBflex scanning receivers. This is expected to get reflected positively in the upcoming results.

The company added Digital Mobile Radio signal quality measurements to its public safety network testing solution. With this, the efficient pass/fail testing system can be applied to a broad range of public and private critical communications networks. PCTEL’s public safety network testing solution reduces testing and reporting time by more than 50%.

PCTEL expanded its Industrial IoT portfolio adding access points, sensor communication and radio modules to its market-leading line of purpose-built antennas. It launched a new antenna that combines precision multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System with high performance LTE, sub-6 GHz 5G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. The company’s performance is expected have benefited from these positives.

For the December quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for total revenues stands at $24 million, implying a rise of 14.3% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. Adjusted earnings per share are pegged at 12 cents, indicating an increase of 300% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model doesn’t predict an earnings beat for PCTEL this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here as you’ll see below:

Earnings ESP: PCTEL’s Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is 0.00% as both are pegged at 12 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

PCTEL, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

PCTEL, Inc. price-eps-surprise | PCTEL, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank: PCTEL currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Stocks to Consider

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 this quarter:

Burlington Stores, Inc. (NYSE:BURL) is slated to release quarterly results on Mar 5. It has an Earnings ESP of +0.02% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is scheduled to release results on Mar 5. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.20% and carries a Zacks Rank #2.

The Cooper Companies, Inc. (NYSE:COO) has an Earnings ESP of +0.63% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is set to report results on Mar 5.

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