What's in the Cards for Zillow Group (ZG) in Q1 Earnings?

NINOY ZG INVE

Zillow Group Inc. (ZG - Free Report) is set to report first-quarter 2017 results on May 4. Last quarter, the company posted a positive earnings surprise of 266.67%. The company has posted an average positive earnings surprise of 15.11% over the past four quarters.

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

Factors at Play

Zillow provides real estate and home-related brands on the web and mobile. The company focuses on home lifecycle, which includes renting, buying, selling, financing and home improvement.

 

Macroeconomic factors, a competitive landscape and increasing mortgage interest rates remain concerns for the company and may weigh on its performance in the soon-to-be reported quarter.

We note that Zillow has underperformed the Zacks Internet - Services industry on a year-to-date basis. The company’s shares have increased 5.6% compared with the industry’s gain of 14.7% during the period.

For first-quarter 2017, management expects revenues in a range of $232 million to $237 million. Premier Agent revenues are projected in a range of $170 million to $172 million. Display revenues are anticipated to be in a range of $14 million to $15 million.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that Zillow is likely to beat earnings estimates 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. This is not the case here as you will see below:

Zacks ESP: Earnings ESP for Zillow is 0.00%. This is because both the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate are pegged at a loss of 9 cents per share. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Zillow’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the predictive power of ESP. However, we need to have a positive ESP to be confident about an earnings surprise.

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.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are a few companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming release:

DragonWave with an Earnings ESP of +8.82% and Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here..

Identiv (INVE - Free Report) with an Earnings ESP of +6.67% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Nikon (NINOY - Free Report) with an Earnings ESP of +53.66% and a Zacks Rank #2.

Sell These Stocks.  Now.

Just released, today's 220 Zacks Rank #5 Strong Sells demand urgent attention. If any are lurking in your portfolio or Watch List, they should be removed immediately. These are sinister companies because many appear to be sound investments. However, from 1988 through 2016, stocks from our Strong Sell list have actually performed 6X worse than the S&P 500.

See today's Zacks "Strong Sells" absolutely free >>

Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.

This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>