The Coca-Cola Company
's (
KO
) strategic bottling partner,
Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.
(
CCE
) is set to report fourth quarter 2012 results on Feb 7. Last
quarter it posted a positive surprise of 2.90%. Let's see how
things are shaping up for this announcement.
Positive & Negative Factors in the Past Two
Quarters
Coca-Cola Enterprises' second and third quarters were
challenging mainly due to volume softness and currency headwinds.
In Oct 2012, Coca-Cola Enterprises sold its North American
operations to The Coca-Cola Company and took over the latter's
bottling operations in Norway and Sweden. Coca-Cola Enterprises
has thus transformed itself into an exclusive western European
bottler. The company is thus exposed to the economic uncertainty
of this region, including steep price competition in Great
Britain and headwinds from increased taxes on beverages with
sweeteners in France.
Even though Coca-Cola Enterprises is facing some challenges in
the short term, the long term fundamentals of the company are
encouraging. The company distributes one of the world's most
recognized brand portfolios, with growing core brands led by the
Coca-Cola trademark. In addition, the company focuses on
innovation in new brands, flavor extensions, new packaging or
sweeteners.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Coca-Cola
Enterprises is likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is
because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a
Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case
here as you will see below.
Zacks Earnings ESP:
Expected Surprise Prediction or ESP (Read:
Zacks Earnings ESP: A Better Method
), is at 0.00%.
Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Coca-Cola Enterprises' Zacks #3 Rank (Hold) when combined with an
ESP of 0.00%, makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution
against stocks with Zacks #4 and #5 Ranks (Sell rated stocks)
going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company
is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other related companies to consider include
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A.
(
CCH
) and
Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A.B. de C.V.
(
KOF
) both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
COCA-COLA ENTRP (CCE): Free Stock Analysis
Report
COCA COLA HELNC (CCH): Free Stock Analysis
Report
COCA COLA CO (KO): Free Stock Analysis Report
COCA-COLA FEMSA (KOF): Free Stock Analysis
Report
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