Finance Stocks' Q2 Earnings Slated on Aug 5: AINV, OFS, WHF

OFS WHF

The Q2 earnings for the Finance sector is almost in the last phase. About 80% of the S&P 500 companies in the sector have reported results for second-quarter 2016 so far. Total earnings for these companies decreased 4.2% year over year despite a revenue improvement of 1.1%. Notably, 66.7% companies have surpassed bottom-line expectations and 52.8% beat on top line.

Performance of the companies so far reflects a marginal improvement over the prior quarter. Per the latest Zacks Earnings Preview report, overall earnings for the S&P 500 stocks in the Finance sector are expected to be down 3.1% year over year in the second quarter. This compares with a 6.9% decline in earnings in the previous quarter.

The industry backdrop hasn’t improved much for the Finance sector. Global growth concerns and low interest rate environment continue to adversely impact the companies’ performance. Nevertheless, moderate rebound in oil prices and improving domestic economic factors alleviated the pressure on the Finance sectorto some extent.

Our quantitative model offers some insights into stocks that are about to report their earnings. Per the model, in order to be confident of an earnings beat, a stock needs to have the right combination of the two key ingredients, a favorable Zacks Rank – Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold) – and a positive Earnings ESP.

Let’s see what’s in store for the following companies that are expected to report second-quarter results on Aug 5.

Apollo Investment Corporation : The Zacks Consensus Estimate has declined 5% over the last 30 days, prior to the company’s earnings release. The earnings estimate of 19 cents reflects a year-over-year decline of 11.7%.

Notably, the company holds a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) along with an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. Thus, Apollo Investment is not likely to report an earnings beat this quarter.

Furthermore, the company reported a nominal average positive surprise in the trailing four quarters.

OFS Capital Corporation (OFS - Free Report) : The Zacks Consensus Estimate of 35 cents for the company reflects a year-over-year increase of 25%. While estimates remained unchanged ahead of OFS Capital’s second-quarter results, we are not confident of an earnings beat as the company has a Zacks Rank #3 with an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

 

Notably, the company reported an average positive earnings surprise of 11.6% in the trailing four quarters.

WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. (WHF - Free Report) : Estimates have been stable lately for WhiteHorse Finance, ahead of its quarterly results. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents for the company reflects a year-over-year decline of 6.8%. Moreover, the combination of a Zacks Rank #3 with an Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes surprise prediction difficult for this company as well.

Additionally, in spite of recording positive earnings surprise in two of the trailing four quarters, the average earnings surprise was a negative 11.2%.

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