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What's in Store for Fidelity National (FIS) in Q4 Earnings?

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Fidelity National Information Services (FIS - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth quarter and 2020 earnings on Feb 9, before the bell. The company’s revenues and earnings are expected to have declined year over year.

Notably, Fidelity delivered positive earnings surprises in three of the trailing four quarters and in-line numbers in one, with the beat being 1.82%, on average.

In the last reported quarter, the company’s earnings matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Expanding margin was a key tailwind. However, significant rise in expenses was a deterrent.

Key Factors

Fidelity is likely to have witnessed muted revenue growth in the to-be-reported quarter as underlying business trends were robust. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues of $3.33 billion implies slight downside from the prior-year reported figure.

During the fourth quarter, overall demand for consumer loans remained weak. In fact, credit card loan balances witnessed a decline in the quarter.

The consensus estimate for revenues from merchant banking solutions is pegged at $1.11 billion, which suggests a marginal decline. However, the consensus estimate for revenues from banking solutions of $1.58 billion indicates a 1.8% rise.

This Florida-based financial service provider’s bottom line might have been hurt by fall in interest rates due to the coronavirus mayhem.

Also, the company’s focus on rolling out innovative products in order to meet customers’ rising demand might have inflated expenses.

Earnings Whispers

Here is what our quantitative model predicts:

Fidelity does not have the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or higher — for increasing the odds of an earnings beat.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for Fidelity is -0.08%.

Zacks Rank: Fidelity currently carries a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell).

Notably, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fourth-quarter earnings suggests a nearly 1% fall from the year-ago reported number.

Among other finance stocks, LendingTree (TREE - Free Report) and Main Street Capital Corporation (MAIN - Free Report) are set to release results Feb 25, while Ellington Financial (EFC - Free Report) is slated to report on Feb 19.

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