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What's in Store for American Tower (AMT) in Q4 Earnings?

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Leading international wireless tower operator, American Tower Corp. (AMT - Free Report) is slated to report fourth-quarter 2016 results, before the opening bell on Feb 27.

Over the past three months, shares of American Tower marked growth of 3.96%, compared with the Zacks categorized REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry’s growth of 7.43%.

Last quarter, American Tower posted a positive earnings surprise of 7.19%. Moreover, the company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the previous four quarters, with an average beat of 6.54%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.

Factors at Play

American Tower remains exposed to multiple headwinds. High customer concentration, stiff competition, integration risks and rising operating expenses are some of the near-term risks. Expansion in the international markets, especially in the emerging Asian and Latin American markets, has helped the company diversify geographically and rake in more revenues. On the flip side, it increases the company’s exposure to foreign currency exchange rate risks. The company’s highly leveraged balance sheet is a major concern as well. Additionally, the company faces threat from emerging technologies like Voice over WiFi.

Amid all these troubles, we appreciate American Tower Corporation’s efforts to reward its stockholders with a quarterly cash distribution of 58 cents per share on the company’s common stock. The distribution was paid on Jan 13, 2017, to stockholders of record at the close of business as on Dec 28, 2016.

American Tower’s Indian, EMEA and Latin American operations account for nearly 50% of its organic core revenue growth. Increased spending on 4G LTE networks has resulted in the massive upside in organic revenues. Mobile subscriber growth has significantly boosted the wireless tower industry. Going forward, we believe that American Tower’s tower buyouts in emerging markets should drive its top line and lend it a competitive edge over rivals.

Meanwhile, the deal to purchase Argentina-based Comunicaciones y Consumos, SA will boost the number of wireless sites and the fiber-optics suite of American Tower.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that American Toweris likely to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate this quarter. 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, that is not the case here as elaborated below.

Zacks ESP: American Tower has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $1.43. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: American Tower has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Please note that we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Strong Sell) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions momentum.

Key Picks

Here are some companies in the Zacks-categorized broader Finance sector that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

EPR Properties (EPR - Free Report) is expected to release fourth-quarter 2016 results on Feb 28. The company has an Earnings ESP of +0.81% and a Zacks Rank #2. Moreover, the company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the previous four quarters, with an average positive beat of 0.85%.

Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (KNSL - Free Report) is expected to release fourth-quarter 2016 results on Mar 1. The company has an Earnings ESP of +7.69% and a Zacks Rank #3. Moreover, the company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the previous four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 20.42%.

Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A. (BSBR - Free Report) is expected to release fourth-quarter 2016 results around Mar 7. The company has an Earnings ESP of +16.67% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the previous four quarters, with an average positive surprise of 38.54%.

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