Robot maker, iRobot Corporation (IRBT), is set to report fourth-quarter 2013 results on Feb 5, after the market closes. In the last quarter, it delivered 8.3% positive earnings surprise. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors to Consider
iRobot reported lower year-over-year revenues in the third quarter of 2013. However, for the nine months ended Sep 2013, the company recorded an improvement. The hike was a result of strong demand in Asia along with improvements in the European market demand.
In the fourth quarter of 2013, iRobot launched many robots which increased its market share. The company has been focusing on its Home Robot segment. For 2013, the company expects to report revenues in the range of $485 million to $490 million with earnings per share in the 90 cents–95 cents range.
Earnings Whispers?
Our proven model does not conclusively show that iRobot is 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 we see below.
Zacks ESP: ESP for iRobot stands at 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate stands at 11 cents flat with the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Zacks Rank: iRobot’s Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) when combined with a 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult. We caution against stocks with Zacks Ranks #4 and 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing a negative estimate revision 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 this quarter
Gorman-Rupp Co. (GRC), Earnings ESP of +4.00% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy)
Affiliated Managers Group Inc. (AMG), Earnings ESP of +0.97% and a Zacks Rank #2
Xylem Inc. (XYL), Earnings ESP of +1.92% and a Zacks Rank #3.
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