Things To Note Ahead Of Brown-Forman's (BF.B) Q3 Earnings

Brown-Forman Corporation BF.B is slated to release third-quarter fiscal 2020 results on Mar 4. This alcoholic beverage bigwig delivered a positive earnings surprise of 11.3% in the last reported quarter. Also, the company’s earnings outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.3%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings has been unchanged over the past 30 days at 50 cents per share. This suggests an increase of 6.4% from the year-ago period’s reported figure. Further, the consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $950 million, indicating a rise of 5.1% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter.

Key Factors to Note

Brown-Forman has been gaining from its brand strength, especially Jack Daniel. Notably, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey has been the key contributor in the United States for a long time now. Further, Woodford Reserve and the Old Forester trademarks have been mainly driving growth of the bourbon category in the United States. In its last earnings call, management stated that it expects continued double-digit growth in its premium bourbon and tequila brands. Also, it projected significant gains from Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) launch in the second half of fiscal 2020.

Additionally, the company’s expanding market presence bodes well. In the last reported quarter, underlying net sales in the region grew 5%, though it was adversely impacted by unfavorable timing associated with select customer buying patterns. Management expects an acceleration in emerging markets’ net sales growth in the second half of the year. For the same timeframe, the company anticipates an improvement in Travel Retail sales. These factors are likely to reflect in the company’s upcoming quarterly results.

Though Brown-Forman’s margins have been under pressure due to higher tariffs, it expects improved trends from the third quarter. Apart from this, cost inflation in agave and wood is likely to have persisted in the quarter under review.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Brown-Forman 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. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Although Brown-Forman carries a Zacks Rank #3, its Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult.

Stocks With Favorable Combinations

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

Costco (NASDAQ:COST) has an Earnings ESP of +0.20% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ:CASY) has an Earnings ESP of +3.45% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) has an Earnings ESP of +0.32% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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