Amcor Plc (AMCR Quick QuoteAMCR - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter and fiscal 2021 results on Aug 17, after the market close.

Q4 Estimates

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the fiscal fourth-quarter revenues is pegged at $3.33 billion. The consensus mark for quarterly earnings currently stands at 22 cents. The estimate has remained unchanged over the past 30 days.

Q3 Performance

Amcor’s third-quarter fiscal 2021 earnings and revenues improved year over year but missed the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 2.3%, on average.

Key Factors to Note

Amcor’s sales have been benefiting from the stay-at-home trend due to the pandemic and the trend is likely to have continued in April-June quarter. Both the Rigid Packaging and Flexible Packaging segments have been performing well through a combination of organic growth and disciplined cost control. The Flexibles segment has been consistently witnessing solid growth across a broad range of end markets, including higher-value end markets like protein, coffee, cheese and pet food. The Rigid packaging segment has been witnessing strong consumer demand.

In North America, beverage volumes and hot fill container volumes have been gaining on strong consumer demand reflecting higher-at-home consumption of packaged beverages. Brand extensions and the introduction of new health and wellness oriented products in PET containers have been contributing to growth as well. Specialty container volumes have been gaining from growth in certain categories including spirits, personal care and home cleaning. These factors might get reflected in Amcor’s fourth-quarter fiscal 2021 top line. The same may have helped negate the impact of lower volumes from certain healthcare end markets faced by the Flexibles segment. Fewer elective surgeries and lower prescription trends on account of the COVID-19 pandemic might have led to lower volumes.

Amcor’s acquisition of Bemis Company in June 2019 expanded its global footprint, opened up new attractive end markets and customers for the company’s products, and greater economies of scale driving efficiencies and higher margins. The company has realized cost synergies ahead of expectations. In the first three quarters of fiscal 2021, the company delivered approximately $55 million (pre-tax) of incremental cost synergies and expects total cost synergy benefits of approximately $70 million (pre-tax) in fiscal 2021. These synergies might have favored the company’s margin performance in the to-be-reported quarter. This benefit may, however, be offset by higher raw material, labor and transportation costs that the company had been witnessing through the quarter under review.

What the Zacks Model Indicates

Our proven model doesn’t conclusively predict an earnings beat for Amcor this season. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP, and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold), increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that’s not the case here.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP: The Earnings ESP for Amcor is 0.00%.

Zacks Rank: The company currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Price Performance

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Over the past six months, shares of Amcor have gained 6% compared with the industry’s growth of 7.3%.

Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings Estimates

Here are some stocks, which you may consider as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat in their upcoming releases.

Deere & Company (DE Quick QuoteDE - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +14.48% and a Zacks Rank #2, currently.

Agilent Technologies, Inc. (A Quick QuoteA - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.16% and a Zacks Rank of 2, at present.

Target Corporation (TGT Quick QuoteTGT - Free Report) , currently a Zacks #3 Ranked stock, has an Earnings ESP of +4.99%.