Wall Street expects a year-over-year decline in earnings on lower revenues when Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) reports results for the quarter that ended March 2023. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.
The stock might move higher if these key numbers top expectations in the upcoming earnings report, which is expected to be released on April 27. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.
While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.
Zacks Consensus Estimate
This banking and payment technologies company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.20 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -18.4%.
Revenues are expected to be $3.4 billion, down 2.5% from the year-ago quarter.
Estimate Revisions Trend
The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised to 0.12% lower over the last 30 days than the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.
Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.
How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Fidelity National?
For Fidelity National, the Most Accurate Estimate is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that analysts have recently become bearish on the company's earnings prospects. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -2.50%.
On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #4.
So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Fidelity National will beat the consensus EPS estimate.
Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?
Analysts often consider to what extent a company has been able to match consensus estimates in the past while calculating its estimates for its future earnings. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.
For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Fidelity National would post earnings of $1.70 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.71, delivering a surprise of +0.59%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates three times.
Bottom Line
Fidelity National doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.
Leave a Reply