What's In Store For Service Corporation's (SCI) Q4 Earnings?

Service Corporation International (NYSE:SCI) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2019 results on Feb 17. This funeral services company has trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 2.1%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2019 earnings is pegged at 60 cents per share, which suggests growth of 11.1% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure. The projection has remained unchanged in the past 30 days. The consensus mark for revenues is pegged at $844.3 million, which indicates an improvement of 2.9% from the prior-year quarter’s figure.

For 2019, the Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.90 per share that suggests a rise of 6.2% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The consensus mark for 2019 sales is pegged at $3,224 million.

Factors at Play

Service Corporation has been benefiting from its performance in the Funeral Services segment. In the last earnings call, management guided for growth in preneed sales production in the fourth quarter. Apart from this, Service Corporation has been committed toward pursuing strategic buyouts for both its segments to generate greater returns. Additionally, the company’s investments in the expansion of funeral homes have been yielding results.

Apart from this, the company expects lower general and administrative expenses to have made an impact on performance in the to-be-reported quarter. However, the company’s consumers in China have been facing a more restrictive policy, which has affected cash transactions out of the country. Moreover, Service Corporation has been facing a number of politically unstable situations. In fact, management guided for earnings growth in the lower range of its previous guidance of $1.90-$2 per share in 2019. Moreover, the company’s bottom line is expected to reflect the impact of higher effective tax rate in the quarter under review.

What the Zacks Model Unveils

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

Service Corporation carries a Zacks Rank #3 and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

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:

e.l.f. Beauty (NYSE:ELF) currently has an Earnings ESP of +3.68% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Hain Celestial (NASDAQ:HAIN) presently has an Earnings ESP of +0.22% and a Zacks Rank #2.

The J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.39% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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