H&R Block (HRB) reports Q1 loss, misses revenue estimates

H&R Block (HRB) reported quarterly loss of $0.72 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $0.76. That compares to a loss of $0.72 per share a year ago. The figure is adjusted for one-time items.

This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 5.26%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this tax preparation company would post earnings of $4.11 per share when it actually produced earnings of $4.32, representing a surprise of 5.11%.

The company has topped consensus earnings per share estimates three times over the last four quarters.

H&R Block, which belongs to the Zacks Consumer Services – Miscellaneous industry, posted revenues of $150.36 million for the quarter ended July 2019, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.21%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $145.18 million. The company has topped the consensus revenue estimate three times over the last four quarters.

The sustainability of current share price movements based on recently released data and future earnings expectations will depend primarily on management’s commentary following the earnings conference call.

H&R Block shares have risen about 6% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 has risen 14.5%.

What’s next for H&R Block?

Even though H&R Block stock has been underperforming this year, investors are wondering: What’s next for this stock?

There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable indicator that can help investors address this is the company’s earnings outlook. This includes not only the current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how those expectations have changed recently.

Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.

Ahead of this earnings report, the estimate revision trend for H&R Block was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company’s just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. As such, the stock is expected to perform in line with the market in the near term. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

It will be interesting to see how estimates for the upcoming quarters and current fiscal year change in the coming days. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$0.91 on $164.40 million in revenue for the coming quarter and $1.99 on $3.17 billion in revenue for the current fiscal year.

Investors should be aware that industry outlooks can also have a significant impact on stock performance. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Consumer Services – Miscellaneous currently ranks in the top 11% of more than 250 Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.

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