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Will Science Applications (SAIC) Surprise in Q3 Earnings?

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Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC - Free Report) is set to report third-quarter 2017 results on Dec 8. Last quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 7.59%. Let us see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors to Consider

Science Applications serves the U.S. federal, state and local government agencies as well as foreign governments. Since its inception in 1969, the company has utilized its domain knowledge to solve critical problems in areas such as national security, energy and the environment, critical infrastructure, and health.

The company delivered mixed second-quarter fiscal 2017 results, with the bottom line beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate but the top line missing the same.

The company’s revenues are expected to get a major boost from the continuous contract wins. It has a huge pipeline of new projects and continues to win deals at regular intervals. These contracts are key growth catalysts for the company.

However, competition from companies such as Accenture plc (ACN - Free Report) and Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation remains a headwind.

SCIENCE APP INT Price and EPS Surprise

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Science Applications is likely to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in its upcoming release. This is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. Unfortunately, this is not the case here as elaborated below.

Zacks ESP: The Earnings ESP for Science Applicationsis 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate stand at 84 cents per share. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Science Applications has a Zacks Rank #3. Though Zacks Rank #1, 2 or 3 increases the predictive power of ESP, 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 to Consider

Here are a couple of stocks, which you may consider as our model shows that they have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases:

Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL - Free Report) , with an Earnings ESP of +8.33% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here

Broadcom Ltd. (AVGO - Free Report) , with an Earnings ESP of +1.73% and a Zacks Rank #2

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