Realogy Holdings Corp. is slated to release third-quarter 2021 results on Oct 28, before the bell. While the company’s results will likely display a year-over-year decline in earnings per share, revenues are anticipated to have increased.

In the last reported quarter, this Madison, NJ-based full-service residential real estate services company delivered a 35.71% earnings surprise. Results reflected better-than-expected growth in revenues.

Over the preceding four quarters, the company surpassed estimates on three occasions and missed in the other, the average beat being 29.77%. The graph below depicts this surprise history:

Realogy Holdings Corp. Price and EPS Surprise

Realogy Holdings Corp. price-eps-surprise | Realogy Holdings Corp. Quote

Let’s see how things have shaped up prior to this announcement.

Factors at Play

Realogy Holdings, a provider of U.S. residential real estate services, including franchise, brokerage, relocation, and title and settlement businesses as well as a mortgage joint venture, is likely to have continued benefiting from its diverse brand portfolio that encompasses some of the reputed names in the real estate landscape. Moreover, the company is poised to benefit from the rebounding fundamentals of the real estate operations industry. Also, it is poised to benefit from its cost-saving efforts.

Technology initiatives and agent strength amid a backdrop of a strong housing market is likely to have helped the company grow and record healthy transaction volumes with its mortgage joint venture and title operations during the quarter under review. The company is also likely to have continued focusing on strengthening its balance sheet and deleveraging. However, the pandemic-induced macroeconomic uncertainties and competitive pressure remain woes.

In September, the company announced that it has repaid a total of $435 million of outstanding borrowings under its term loan facilities as of Sep 16, 2021, and the repayment was funded with cash on hand.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues is currently pegged at $2.22 billion, suggesting an increase of 19.75% year on year.

Realogy Holdings’ activities during the July-September period were adequate to win analysts’ confidence. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly earnings moved north from 83 cents to $1.26 over the past three months. However, the figure suggests a year-over-year decrease of 7.35%.

Here is what our quantitative model predicts:

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings surprise for Realogy Holdings 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.

Realogy Holdings currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 and has an Earnings ESP of 0.00%.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks in the broader real estate sector that you may want to consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to report a positive surprise this quarter:

CBRE Group Inc. (CBRE Quick QuoteCBRE - Free Report) , set to report quarterly numbers on Oct 28, currently has an Earnings ESP of +19.17% and carries a Zacks Rank of 2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL Quick QuoteJLL - Free Report) , slated to release earnings figures on Nov 3, has an Earnings ESP of +5.50% and holds a Zacks Rank of 2, currently.

Cushman & Wakefield PLC (CWK Quick QuoteCWK - Free Report) , scheduled to announce quarterly results on Nov 4, has an Earnings ESP of +2.74% and sports a Zacks Rank of 1, at present.