Agilent Technologies A is set to report fourth-quarter fiscal 2016 results on Nov 15. Last quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 4.26%.
Let's see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to Consider
Agilent reported decent fiscal third-quarter results with earnings exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, revenues of $1.04 billion were in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Revenue growth was supported by continued strength in the pharma, diagnostics and clinical markets across most of the geographical regions.
The company's decision to divest or wind up underperforming businesses has helped it to focus on the new Agilent for a solid recurring revenue base and on diversification of geographic and industrial operations for growth. Also, the company's focus on aligning investments for more attractive growth avenues and innovative product launches is a positive.
In addition, we believe that Agilent's broader portfolio and increased focus on segments with higher growth potential could drive revenue and margins in the upcoming release.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, Agilent expects revenues within $1.05 billion to $1.07 billion, and non-GAAP earnings per share in the range of 50 cents to 52 cents.
Earnings Whispers
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Agilent Technologieswill beat estimates this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: Both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at 52 cents. Hence, the Earnings ESP is 0.00%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter .
Zacks Rank: Agilent Technologieshas a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.
AGILENT TECH Price and EPS Surprise
AGILENT TECH Price and EPS Surprise | AGILENT TECH Quote
Stocks to Consider
You could consider the following stocks with a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank:
vTv Therapeutics Inc. VTVT with an Earnings ESP of +335.0% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here .
Kamada Ltd. KMDA with an Earnings ESP of +125.0% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC FTAI with an Earnings ESP of +100.0% and a Zacks Rank #2.
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AGILENT TECH (A): Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
