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Can Cable ONE (CABO) Spring a Surprise in Q3 Earnings?

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Cable ONE Inc. (CABO - Free Report) is slated to report third-quarter 2017 results on Nov 8, after market close.

The company has a negative earnings surprise history. Cable ONE lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the previous four quarters, with an average miss of 6.93%.

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

Factors at Play

The company, based in Phoenix, AZ, is among the top 10 cable companies in the United States. Cable ONE serves more than 800,000 residential and commercial customers in 21 states with high-speed Internet, cable television and telephone service. As of Dec 31, 2016, it served 513,908 data customers, 320,246 video customers and 115,811 voice customers. The company provides consumers with a wide range of products and services, including wireless internet service, high-definition programming and phone service with free, unlimited long-distance calling.

Cable ONE made major changes in its channels and their availability to customers. New line-ups were implemented to make news, sports and other channels easily accessible to viewers. We are also impressed with the company’s effort to reward shareholders with a quarterly cash dividend of $1.75 per share, marking an increase of $0.25 in the company’s quarterly cash dividend. The dividend will be paid on Sep 1 to stockholders of record at the closure of business as of Aug 15. 

The acquisition of cable operator — NewWave Communications — will enable the company to create a leading high-speed data and cable company. Through this buyout, Cable ONE will be able to serve more than 1.2 million primary service units in 21 states. The deal will aid Cable ONE to expand footprint intol non-metropolitan markets and non-urban areas like Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas. The company has optimized its strategy and operations for these regions.

We are concerned about the company’s operation in a saturated and competitive multi-channel U.S. video market. Moreover, cable companies continue to face stiff competition from online video streaming service providers such as Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Hulu.com, YouTube etc. because of their cheap source of TV programming. Further, gaining customers from competitors is a difficult task as most pay-TV operators are offering innovative packages.

Cable ONE faces immense competition from leading cable multi-service-operators (MSO) like Comcast Corp. (CMCSA - Free Report) and Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR - Free Report) . This is likely to be a major dampener for the company’s earnings.

In the past three months, shares of Cable ONE have lost 8.8% compared with the industry’s decline of 10.7%.

 

 

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Cable ONE is 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: Cable ONE has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at $4.91. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Cable ONE has a Zacks Rank #3 which increases the predictive power of ESP. However, the company’s 0.00% ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.

 

Cable One, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

 

Cable One, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise | Cable One, Inc. Quote

 

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

Key Pick

Here is a company from the broader Consumer Discretionary sector — which houses Cable ONE — that has the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

DISH Network Corp is expected to release third-quarter 2017 results on Nov 9. The company has an Earnings ESP of +1.68% and a Zacks Rank #3. 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 earnings beat of 0.76%.

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