What's in Store for Synchrony Financial's (SYF) Q1 Results?

NDAQ SYF VIRT

Synchrony Financial (SYF - Free Report) will release first-quarter 2020 results on Apr 21, before the market opens.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings is pegged at 89 cents, suggesting an 11% drop from the year-ago reported figure, mainly due to lower revenues.

In the last reported quarter, the company delivered a positive surprise of 1.9%, backed by higher net interest income excluding the impact of the Walmart portfolio. The company’s Payments Solution and CareCredit segments also contributed to its results. The bottom line too inched up 0.9% year over year.

Key Catalysts for Q1 Earnings

The company’s revenues might have been affected by lower net interest income in the quarter under review. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the top line is pegged at $3.9 billion, indicating a 5.8% downfall from the year-earlier reported number.

Moreover, Synchrony Financial is expected to have endured elevated expenses due to investments in sales platforms.

On its last earnings call, management declared its net interest margin expectation to be around 15% for the first quarter.

Synchrony Financial is likely to have witnessed higher net charge-off rate trends for the first quarter (around 50 basis points) than the fourth, mainly due to seasonal decline in receivables.

For the first quarter, it expected its efficiency ratio to be around 33%.

Nonetheless, the company’s digital sales are likely to have witnessed consistent growth in the quarter under discussion.

Synchrony Financial is expected to have continued with capital deployment for addition of shareholder value. Steady capital allocation in the period is likely to have provided an additional impetus to the company’s bottom line.

What the Quantitative Model Predicts

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Synchrony Financial this reporting cycle. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of a positive surprise. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Earnings ESP: Synchrony Financial has an Earnings ESP of -5.41%. This is because the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged at 84 cents, lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 89 cents. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Synchrony Financial carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), which decreases the predictive power of ESP.

Stocks to Consider

Some stocks worth considering from the finance sector with a perfect mix of elements to surpass estimates in the upcoming quarterly releases are as follows:

Nasdaq, Inc. (NDAQ - Free Report) is set to report first-quarter earnings on Apr 22. The stock has a Zacks Rank of 3 and an Earnings ESP of +41.57 %.

CURO Group Holdings Corp. has an Earnings ESP of +1.47% and is Zacks #1 Ranked. The company is scheduled to release first-quarter earnings on May 4.

Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT - Free Report) is slated to announce first-quarter earnings on May 7. The stock has an Earnings ESP of +1.31% and a Zacks Rank #1.

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