Telecom Stocks' Q1 Earnings On May 9: CTL, LSXMA & GLIBA

The earnings season, which is well into the final phase, has proved to be one of the strongest in the past seven years with decent performance across the table. About 409 S&P 500 members have already released results till May 4. Total earnings for these companies are up 24% year over year on 9.3% higher revenues, with 78% beating earnings estimates and 75.6% surpassing top-line expectations. Based on the hitherto observed pattern, first-quarter 2018 is anticipated to register healthy double-digit percentage earnings growth on a year-over-year basis.

Per the latest Earnings Preview, overall first-quarter earnings for all the S&P 500 companies are expected to be up 23.2% on 8.7% growth in revenues. This represents an improved growth projection from the previous quarter, which recorded 13.4% earnings growth on 8.1% higher revenues. Experts widely believe that earnings growth is likely to improve steadily in 2018 and beyond.

The Technology sector, of which Telecom forms part, appears to be quite strong. For the sector, earnings are expected to improve 28.5% year over year while revenues are touted to rise 12.6% due to healthy growth dynamics on the back of existing secular trends in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and Big Data.

Let’s take a sneak peek at three major Telecom stocks scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on May 9 to see how things are shaping up for the upcoming results.

CenturyLink, Inc. (NYSE:CTL) is scheduled to report results after the closing bell. The company is likely to report higher revenues in the quarter backed by healthy growth dynamics. During the quarter, the company expanded its visibility into the global threat landscape in order to assist enterprises predict, protect and respond to evolving cyber threats. CenturyLink was also awarded a managed services contract with the State of Texas Department of Information Resources. Such factors are likely to lend momentum to CenturyLink’s top-line growth. (Read more: Can Higher Business Sales Aid CenturyLink Q1 Earnings?)

For the to-be-reported quarter, the company has an Earnings ESP of -16.94%, and Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), making an earnings surprise prediction uncertain. A stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 for a likely earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

The Liberty SiriusXM Group (NASDAQ:LSXMA) is scheduled to report results before the opening bell. We remain inconclusive on an earnings beat prediction this quarter as it has an ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

GCI Liberty, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLIBA) is slated to release earnings results after the closing bell. We remain inconclusive on earnings beat prediction this quarter as it has an ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?

Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana.

Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look.

See the pot trades we're targeting>>