Fortive (FTV) Q1 earnings expected to decline

The market is expecting Fortive (FTV) to post a year-over-year earnings decline on lower revenue when it reports results for the quarter ended March 2019. This widely known consensus forecast is important when assessing the company’s earnings picture, but a strong factor that could impact its stock price in the near term is how well actual results compare to those estimates.

The stock could rise if these key numbers beat expectations in the upcoming earnings report, due April 25. On the other hand, if they miss expectations, the stock could fall.

While management’s discussion of operating conditions during the earnings conference call will have the greatest impact on the durability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it is worth having insight into the likelihood of an upside earnings per share surprise.

Zacks Consensus Estimate

The industrial conglomerate is expected to report quarterly earnings at $0.68 per share in its upcoming report, which would represent a year-over-year change of -12.8%.

Revenue is expected to be $1.66 billion, down 4.6% from the same quarter last year.

Estimate revision trend

The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised up 2.57% over the past 30 days to current levels. This is essentially a reflection of how the analysts covering the aggregate have reassessed their initial estimates during this period.

Investors should note that the total change may not necessarily reflect the direction of each individual analyst’s estimate revisions.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Whispers about earnings

Estimate revisions ahead of a company’s earnings release provide a guide to business conditions in the period in which the earnings are released. Our proprietary surprise prediction model, the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction), has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a newer version of the Zacks Consensus EPS. The idea is that the analysts revising their estimates just before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and other contributors to the consensus had previously predicted.

So a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates a likely deviation of actual earnings from consensus estimates. However, the model’s predictive power is only significant for positive ESP readings.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, especially when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination deliver a positive surprise almost 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually boosts the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

It’s important to remember that a negative Earnings ESP reading does not indicate an earnings miss. Our research shows that it’s difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How do Fortive’s numbers stack up?

In the case of Fortive, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting there are no recent analyst views that differ from those considered in deriving the consensus estimate. This leads to an Earnings ESP of 0%.

On the other hand, the company’s stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3.

The combination of these factors makes it difficult to clearly predict that Fortive will beat consensus earnings per share estimates.

Are the financial results surprising? Does history matter?

When calculating a company’s future earnings estimates, analysts often consider how well it matched previous consensus estimates. So it’s worth looking at a surprising story to assess its impact on the upcoming numbers.

In the last reported quarter, it was expected that Fortive would post earnings of $0.86 per share when it actually came to $0.91, delivering a surprise of +5.81%.

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

Summary

Beating or missing earnings may not be the only reason a stock goes up or down. Many stocks lose ground despite beating earnings because of other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help many stocks gain despite missing earnings.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations increases the odds of success. That’s why it’s worth checking a company’s Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly earnings release. Be sure to use our Earnings ESP Filter to discover the best stocks to buy or sell before they release.

Fortive doesn’t seem like a compelling candidate for an earnings beat. However, investors should look at other factors when betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

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