Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) — one of the leading natural and organic foods supermarket chains— is slated to report its fourth-quarter fiscal 2013 results after the market closes on Nov 6, 2013. In the last quarter, it posted a positive surprise of 2.7%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors this Past Quarter
The stringent cost-control measures, effective inventory management and improved store-level performance facilitated Whole Foods to register 20% growth in the bottom line during third-quarter fiscal 2013. The company has also been revamping its pricing strategy and concentrating more on value offerings, while maintaining healthy margins.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that Whole Foods is likely to beat earnings estimate this quarter. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1, #2 or #3 for this to happen. This is not the case here, as you will see below.
Zacks ESP: ESP for Whole Foods is 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 31 cents.
Zacks Rank #2 (Buy): Whole Foods’ Zacks Rank #2 when combined with 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution against stocks with a Zacks Ranks #4 and #5 (Sell rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.
Stocks that Warrant a Look
Here are some other companies you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements:
The J. M. Smucker Company (SJM) has an Earnings ESP of +0.63% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)
Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) has an Earnings ESP of +1.11% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Campbell Soup Company (CPB) has an Earnings ESP of +1.15% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment