What’s in Store for Archer Daniels (ADM) in Q3 Earnings?

Zacks

Archer Daniels Midland Company ADM is slated to report third-quarter 2015 results on Nov 3, before the opening bell. In the last quarter, the company delivered a negative earnings surprise of 7.7%. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors Influencing this Quarter

Though Archer Daniels posted lower-than-expected top- and bottom-line results in the last quarter, the company’s earnings have outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by an average of 3.7% over the past four quarters. Archer Daniels’ consistent focus on enhancing its processing capabilities and global footprint through strategic acquisitions bodes well. The company expects robust ethanol demand and production in the second half of 2015, and is on track to enhance the cost structure of its dry mills. However, industry margin, which depends on the demand-supply balance, will only evolve over time. Given this uncertainty and the vulnerability to currency headwinds, we would prefer to wait and see what’s in store for Archer Daniels in the quarter to be reported.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Archer Daniels is likely to beat earnings 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: Earnings ESP for Archer Daniels is currently pegged at 0.00%. This is because the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate both stand at 71 cents.

Zacks Rank: Archer Daniels carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, the company’s ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult.

We caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated stocks) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks that Warrant a Look

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

Dean Foods Company DF has an Earnings ESP of +4.00% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Ralph Lauren Corporation RL has an Earnings ESP of +0.58% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Michael Kors Holdings Limited KORS has an Earnings ESP of +3.37% and a Zacks Rank #3.

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