Will Kroger (KR) Disappoint This Earnings Season?

Zacks

The Kroger Co. (KR) is slated to report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2013 results on Mar 6, 2014. In the previous quarter, it posted in-line earnings but surged 15% year over year. Let us see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors in the Past Quarter

Kroger’s third-quarter fiscal 2013 earnings results were mainly driven by the company’s Customer 1st strategy. Share repurchase activities also aided the bottom line.

Earnings Whispers?

Our proven model does not conclusively show Kroger as likely to beat earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank of #1, 2 or 3 for this to happen. That is not the case here as you will see below.

Zacks ESP: ESP for Kroger is 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stands at 73 cents.

Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Kroger’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP. However, we also need to have a positive ESP to be confident of an earnings surprise call. We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some other companies you may want to consider as our model shows they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat:

Calavo Growers Inc. (CVGW) with Earnings ESP of 16.00% and Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy)

Paragon Shipping Inc. (PRGN) with Earnings ESP of 25.00% and Zacks Rank #1

Giant Interactive Group, Inc. (GA) with Earnings ESP of 4.35% and Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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